Travel disruption – live: Calls for automatic airline refunds grow as Wizz Air adds to advance cancellations

A Eurostar passenger at London’s St Pancras station has posted a time-lapse video showing the train operator’s queues stretching outside the terminal and down the street.

“Eurostar: celebrating the Platinum Jubilee at St Pancras,” wrote Stephen Kingsley.

Eurostar warned its customers of delays and disruption shortly after 9.30am, due to a fatality on the tracks in France.

“Due to a fatality in Northern France our services are experiencing disruptions. Please arrive at the station at the time stated on your ticket. If you miss your onward connection please speak to a member of our staff. We apologise for the impact this may have on your plans,” said the operator.

Eurostar is saying that due to a fatality on the tracks in France, its services are delayed.

“Due to a fatality in Northern France our services are experiencing disruptions. Please arrive at the station at the time stated on your ticket. If you miss your onward connection please speak to a member of our staff. We apologise for the impact this may have on your plans,” the operator posted to Twitter.

The incident has already swelled queues, with customer Deborah tweeting: “Absolute chaos at St Pancras station - massive queues for Eurostar. Queues easily a mile long.”

Passengers on the 7.13am service from Paris to London reported that they were still stuck in France nearly three hours into the journey.

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Passengers are taking to social media to express their relief at smoothly managed queues and fast progress.

At Edinburgh Airport, Angie Bailey wrote: “Arrived at 4am to the security queue at the top of the elevator. Panic set in which was unnecessary as the queue management system in place was brilliant. Through in 10 minutes. Well done all. However the queue for coffee on the other side - but can’t win them all.”

Meanwhile, Mike Sammon tweeted: “Manchester airport is quite a chill place at the moment. Thanks to the check in staff doing a great job shouting out which flights should queue.”

Gatwick customer Kelly added: “when I saw the length of the security queue my heart sank, but moved quickly, was constantly moving. Staff helpful and on top of the queues. Great job Gatwick airport staff.”

Over in Dublin, Jess reported she arrived “four and a half hours before our flight, prepared for major queues and chaos” but “breezed through check-in and security in 15 mins”.

In Manchester, Jack Dorney tweeted: “Been at the airport this morning and the queue for security was long if you don’t have fast track but the service from the team on the ground was was superb. All calm and no queues once through security.”

One passenger at Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal has warned of long waits and queues of up to 100 people at some food outlets, saying, “it’s like the Hunger Games”.

Shortly before 9am, Ingrid Guerrero wrote: “1.5 hr wait to get seated/takeaway in @NandosUK at @Gatwick_Airport South Terminal!!!

“The queues for #pretamanger are about 80-100 ppl long….eat before you come to #gatwickairport !!! It’s like the hunger games inside #southterminal”

Holidaymakers should avoid checking in a hold bag, travel industry figures are advising as the UK and Ireland’s airport chaos continues into the jubilee weekend.

Andy Prendergast, national secretary of the GMB union told Sky News that passengers checking in a larger case is one of the main hold-ups as airports struggle to cope with increased passenger traffic.

“If people can check in online and do not take bags, that limits the disruption,” he said.

“It’s not a magic bullet, but it’s one less thing to worry about and it does reduce the chance of there being problems.”

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Passengers arriving to Bristol Airport on a Tui flight say they have been waiting for their baggage to appear in the terminal since 7am.

Customer Danielle Witt wrote: “Landed after an 8 hour night flight, sat in baggage claim for an HOUR to finally have an announcement that our luggage won’t be out for ANOTHER hour…not acceptable!

“I have a 14 month old who is tired & we can’t even get his car seat so we can leave!”

The Financial Times is reporting that chief executives of airlines called on the transport secretary to ease post-Brexit restrictions on workers from Europe.

They told Grant Shapps at a meeting on Wednesday that they could solve some of their staffing issues by bringing in crew from other European bases.

But the minister is reported to have said it was unlikely that the government would relax the rules. Simon Calder writes in his Plane Talk column: “Even the most committed “Remoaner” could not blame all the ills of the travel industry at Brexit’s door; the worst airport queues in Europe this month have not been in the UK, but at Amsterdam and Dublin.”

But, he adds: “Talking off the record to airlines and recruiting consultants point to two specific consequences of Brexit.

“Plenty of European staff left both the British aviation industry and the UK during the Covid pandemic. They have not returned, some no doubt taking up roles in aviation within the EU – where they feel more wanted.

“The other effect is more subtle but arguably even more significant. Far more Europeans worked in hospitality here than in aviation. A large proportion of them also left the UK. And that created a vast array of vacancies.

“Many excellent British aviation professionals, furloughed for many months and uncertain if their jobs would ever return, ‘backfilled’ those roles. They are unlikely to be lured back to a high-stress role with unsocial hours.”

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As many prepare to jet off on spring holidays to make the most of the four-day jubilee weekend, how early is too early to arrive at the airport?

Seeing photos and video of queues stretching outside airport terminals, it’s understandable that you might want to check in as early as possible to avoid getting caught up in the chaos.

However, airport bosses are warning that getting to the terminal too early can clog up queues and prevent people with earlier flights than yours getting through - adding even more to the stress levels.

On top of this, each airline has slightly different rules around check-in and bag drop times.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s travel liveblog, where we’ll be posting all the latest news and updates.

Abta’s chief executive, Mark Tanzer, has called comments from the government about airport and airline disruption in the UK “deeply frustrating”.

The Abta boss said: “The return of international travel after two years of heavy government restrictions on the industry, and minimal levels of financial support was never going to happen without challenge.

“While the vast majority of people have been able to get away on holiday this week, it is of course disappointing for those who have been caught up in delays or who have seen their travel plans cancelled.

“Abta has been providing advice and guidance to customers throughout this time, appearing on national and local radio and TV to put the issues into context and advise consumers of their rights.”

He added: “The comments from the government this week are deeply frustrating and do not correlate with the events of the last two years. Abta, along with the rest of the industry, warned the government time and time again that thousands of jobs would be lost, and the industry’s recovery would be delayed if the government did not provide sector-specific support for the travel industry.”