Chaotic scenes at UK airports have seen holidaymakers come up against hours-long delays, lengthy queues, and growing cancellations.
The havoc seen at half-term will likely repeat this Platinum Jubilee as Brits take advantage of the extra long bank holiday weekend.
Although the UK has seen the back of Covid rules, the virus has caused staff shortages that play a large part in the chaos.
In fact, travellers may have unintentionally making queues worse as TUI and Ryanair urge fliers not to arrive too early at the airport.
That's not to mention the sheer number of holidaymakers that have created a huge strain on services.
At Bristol Airport, fliers reported queues which stretched outside of the terminal, while in Manchester Airport customers reported waiting for over five hours to get their luggage back after a flight.
So why exactly are airports and airlines struggling quite so badly? The reasons behind the chaotic scenes and cancellations come down to three main factors.
Staff shortages
While isolation is no longer a requirement in the UK, airlines and airports are being hit by shortages with staff illness, including people testing positive for Covid and staying home.
For airports, there are staff shortages across everyone from airport security staff to ground handlers, which in itself slows down the process and creates delays.
However, it's not just illness causing shortages.
The pandemic had devastating effects in travel as holidays were banned and strict entry rules were brought in at peak periods.
As a result, the aviation industry was forced to cut its workforces including cabin crew, pilots, ground handlers and other employees.
This effect is still being felt now, even as companies push recruitment drives in a bid to cope with the renewed demand for holidays.
Surge of holidaymakers
Travel bans and strict entry rules have kept Brits at home for the last few years, so it's no surprise that holiday-starved UK travellers are flocking to sunnier shores.
Most countries have been easing their travel rules - some have scrapped them altogether - while travel giants are offering up heaps of holiday deals to tempt back travellers.
Under-staffed airports and airlines are still struggling to cope with the demand - which results in longer queues and delays at the likes of airport security.
People arriving too early for flights
It's a Catch-22 situation - there are huge queues so people panic and arrive for flights much earlier than usual, which causes extra congestion and therefore leads to huge queues, and so on.
Now, it's absolutely not holidaymakers' fault that there is so much travel disruption, but travel firms are urging Brits not to arrive far too early for their flights.
Scots flying through Edinburgh have been warned to expect long queues at security.
Edinburgh Airport tweeted on Monday: "We're experiencing longer than normal queues for security at the moment and that's resulting in longer wait times.
"Security staff are working incredibly hard to safely screen passengers, and we thank everyone for their patience."
TUI, BA, easyJet, Ryanair and more offer guidance on how early you should arrive for a flight, which is usually up to about three hours ahead.
Amidst the recent wave of flight delays, TUI issued a statement for passengers which included details on arrival times: "We'd like to remind customers not to arrive at the airport too far in advance of their flight, as this can contribute to terminal queueing delays.
"Standard check-in opens at least two and a half hours before departure time for short and mid-haul flights, and at least three and a half hours before departure for long-haul flights."
Have you been affected by the travel chaos? Let us know in the comments below.
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