Airport delays – live: Bank Holiday travel chaos as passport e-gates fail across UK

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has the latest on the industrial action in the travel sector:

Partly as a result of the British Airways cancellations, day two of a strike by security staff at Terminal 5, BA’s main base, is having little effect.

At other leading airports, journeys are proving smooth – with the main issue at Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow being cancellations of BA flights to and from Heathrow.

Staff working at Edinburgh airport have voted strongly in favour of a strike over pay, but no industrial action has yet been called.

The Unite union clearly expects the airport bosses to come back with an improved offer – but warns of “travel chaos” in the summer if a walk-out goes ahead. The airport says it has already made a “fair and generous” pay proposal.

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder reports:

The BA cancellations are not on the scale of the late May bank holiday 2017, when another IT failure led to all the airline’s operations at Heathrow and Gatwick being grounded. But the cost in lost revenue, hotel costs and passenger compensation will run into many millions of pounds.

Holidaymakers have been queueing at airports this morning, as British Airways cancellations hit what was expected to be the busiest weekend for aviation since 2019.

Here are the queues at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2:

At Heathrow’s Terminal 5, passengers were also seen waiting in long lines to be rebooked, as British Airways cancelled dozens of flights.

As millions of drivers are set to hit the road this bank holiday weekend, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is reportedly set to update its guidance for drivers with eye conditions “within weeks”.

The agency is said to have made the move after the Association of Optometrists (AOP) “raised serious concerns” over the published list of notifiable health conditions last year. It claimed it was “so extensive that it could apply to almost every driver who receives a sight test”.

In response, the AOP claims that the DVLA has agreed to revise the list, with updated guidance due to be published “in the coming weeks”.

Oliver Pritchard-Jones has the full report:

The Port of Dover is said to be “busy” as predicted, but processing traffic “well”, with queues of an hour for tourist cars and coaches waiting to cross the Channel.

Here are some pictures from the port:

In a slightly lower forecast than the RAC, the AA expects 17 million drivers to hit the roads this weekend as motorists take advantage of lower fuel prices.

“With fuel in some areas at its lowest price since October 2021, many drivers may want to take advantage of the price drop by heading onto the open road. This, coupled with school half-term holidays is likely to lead to much busier than normal roads, particularly around leisure attractions and parks,” the AA said.

“For those fortunate enough to be heading on a road trip abroad, main ports, particularly Dover, where Operation Brock is in place, in addition to Portsmouth and Hull, will see an upturn in traffic so it’s important to plan ahead by checking for travel updates and by keeping plenty of food and drink in your car in case you do get stuck in heavy delays.”

Luke Bosdet, the AA’s fuel price spokesperson, added: “Lower pump prices, with diesel’s average this week down 50p from last summer’s peak to below 150p a litre and petrol typically at 143p a litre, will not only encourage more holiday drivers onto the road but ensure that more of their spending goes to tourism and not the fuel trade.

“Having said that, the often huge price variations depending on where you fill up will drive many drivers round the bend.”

The RAC has warned that the cost of living crisis could result in more breakdowns on what it has said could be the busiest late May bank holiday weekend on Britain’s roads since before the pandemic.

“With so many households under the cosh financially, we’re concerned that a lack of essential maintenance might lead to more avoidable breakdowns than we’d normally see,” said RAC breakdown spokesperson Rod Dennis.

“So we’re reminding everyone to ensure their cars are as a ready for a getaway as they can be – if a vehicle hasn’t been serviced recently, this is the week to get one done by a qualified professional.

He added: “Whether a car’s been serviced lately or not, a quick look at oil and coolant levels, together with checking tyres are in good condition and inflated properly, can go a long way to avoiding an unwelcome stop at the side of the road this weekend.”

Motoring group RAC has warned of a “hectic period on major roads” as drivers are expected to make more than 19 million leisure trips over the bank holiday weekend, which would amount to the most since 2019.

RAC breakdown spokesperson Rod Dennis said: “With the travel restrictions imposed during Covid now thankfully a distant memory, it’s clear drivers’ desire to getaway has been reignited with our figures for this coming weekend suggesting leisure traffic volumes will be close to what we last saw in 2019.

“With the Met Office currently predicting largely settled weather with above average temperatures, we’re expecting this to be a hectic period on major roads as people aim to make the most of the last long weekend before August – and that means it will be a busy time for our patrols too.”

British Airways has blamed the “knock-on effect of a technical issue” as it cancelled dozens more flights on Friday.

A spokesperson said: “While the vast majority of our flights continue to operate today, we have cancelled some of our short-haul flights from Heathrow due to the knock-on effect of a technical issue that we experienced yesterday.

“We’ve apologised to customers whose flights have been affected and offered them the option to rebook to an alternative flight with us or another carrier or request a refund.”

The airline is telling passengers: “We’re aware of a technical issue, which we have been working hard to fix. Due to high call volumes please only contact us if you’re due to travel in the next 48 hours.”

British Airways has cancelled dozens more flights following an IT failure on Thursday, what was supposed to be the busiest day for aviation since 2019, reports our travel correspondent Simon Calder.

The Independent calculates that at least 156 flights, mainly domestic and European, have been cancelled on Thursday and Friday as BA struggles to operate without essential systems.

In addition, 14 flights were delayed overnight and are expected to arrive during the late morning after delays of 12-16 hours.

With many planes fully booked at the start of the bank holiday weekend, the number of passengers affected is likely to top 25,000 – with many more seriously delayed and/or encountering missed connections.

Fifty-five outbound short-haul flights were grounded on Thursday afternoon and evening, with 21 inbound trips also grounded on Thursday.

Friday morning sees 36 inbound flights cancelled as a result of planes and pilots being in the wrong places on Thursday night. In addition, British Airways has grounded a fresh wave of 46 Friday flights, including to and from Athens, Warsaw, Reykjavik and Tirana.