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

The Conservative MP Huw Merriman has defended the travel industry, saying that government “effectively told them to fly”.

Mr Merriman, who chairs the transport select committee, told Sky News that it is “disappointing for the government to appear to blame the industry. This is an industry that’s lost billions”.

“They can’t just flick the switch on in anticipation because there have been so many changes to the rules,” he said of the sudden end to the UK’s travel restrictions.

Travel industry professionals “have had to wait until there is clarity,” said Mr Merriman.

“To say, actually, they’ve ramped up too much demand - parliament and government have told industry that if they don’t use 70 per cent of the flight slots then they’ll lose them,” he added.

“So we’ve effectively told them to fly.”

Birmingham Airport is predicting that it will receive 89 per cent of passenger numbers that passed through in 2019’s late May bank holiday weekend during the jubilee weekend.

More than 147,000 people are forecast to fly in and out of the West Midlands hub over the long weekend from 2-5 June - 144 times more than over 2020’s late May bank holiday, during the Covid travel shutdown.

The airport says it is poised to cope well with passenger traffic, having increased its security officers by 19 per cent and front-of-house customer service employees by 20 per cent since the start of 2022.

Nick Barton, the airport’s chief executive, celebrated the recovery in passengers, while reminding customers to be prepared for baggage screening.

“We are so pleased to see customers back at BHX again,” he said. “In the darkest days of lockdown, there were eerie moments when birdsong was the loudest sound on our airfield.

“Much as I love the sound of birds singing, I’m relieved to hear the buzz of airport activity once again as customers take to the skies in large numbers.

“I’d like to thank customers who present compliant baggage at our pre-flight security screening – with liquids, gels, pastes and larger electrical items removed. This helps us help you keep moving. It also helps our security officers in their vital task of keeping everyone safe.”

DAA chief executive Dalton Philips, who oversees Dublin Airport, has said that the airport will be managed differently this weekend and beyond, with staff “focused on a better passenger experience”.

He told the Press Association that there will be 10 per cent more staff on hand for the jubilee weekend compared with last weekend, while around double the number of security lanes would be open.

“We have 40 more staff, we have brought officers up from Cork which we’re very grateful for, we will have a very extensive overtime packaging, which is triple time,” said Mr Philips.

He said that some of the short-term car parks in both terminals, as well as the space where queues formed outside the terminals, are among the spaces that may be used as holding areas.

“At times when the terminals get particularly busy, we may triage access to the terminals and control entry into the terminal, based on the departure time of flights if necessary. A protocol for the deployment of this is in place.

“For departing passengers, access to the appropriate terminals will be controlled and will require the presentation of documentation indicating the time of flight such as a booking confirmation or boarding card.”

“Following these incremental measures, we are confident we have a robust plan and we do not envisage a repeat of what occurred last Sunday,” added Mr Philips.

“And, should unanticipated issues arise, we have appropriate escalation and triage mechanisms focused on ensuring no passengers will miss their flights.”

Dublin Airport’s management firm DAA has released a contingency plan for the jubilee weekend, including having “an additional 40 security staff on duty” and “a back-up triage mechanism” to stop passengers arriving earlier than advised getting into the terminals.

In details published by Ireland’s Travel Trade Network, DAA advises passengers to arrive at the airport at least two-and-a-half hours before a short-haul flight and at least three-and-a-half hours for a long-haul flight, but says that anyone checking a bag in should allow a further hour on top of this.

Of the triage mechanism, ITTN says: “At times when the terminals get particularly busy, triaging access will be deployed to the terminals. This will restrict passengers from accessing the departures levels of the airport until within two-and-a-half hours before a short-haul flight or three-and-a-half hours before a long-haul flight.

“Anyone wishing to enter the terminals must present documentation, such as booking confirmation or boarding card, indicating the time of their flight.”

As the UK suffers disruption to air travel, data has revealed that 377 flights have been cancelled from UK airports during the last week (25-31 May), with easyJet and Gatwick being the most disrupted.

According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, over the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend (2-5 June), data shows:

• 10,794 departures from UK airports are scheduled - equating to 1,905,475 seats

Across the previous week (25-31 May), there have been 377 cancellations from UK airports. London Gatwick has been the most affected, with 151 cancellations, followed by Manchester (41), London Heathrow (36), Bristol (27), and Edinburgh (19).

EasyJet has seen the largest disruption, with 249 UK cancellations – 66 per cent of all UK cancelled flights.

Other UK airlines faced less disruption, with Loganair seeing 19 cancellations, Eastern Airways with 15, TUI with 14 and British Airways with 16.

The Liberal Democrats have called for the army to be brought in to help alleviate travel disruption as queues at airports up and down the country reach critical mass going into the Platinum Jubilee weekend.

With families facing their bank holiday getaway being cancelled or heavily delayed, the party has urged the Government to call on the Armed Forces to run point on logistics. This would include the running of a command centre to sort out airports, keep roads moving and get ports unblocked.

Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said: “The chaotic scenes at airports up and down the country have been nothing short of a complete disaster. Families’ half-term getaways have been thrown into disarray and now they face the prospect of a long-weekend spent sleeping in airports and sitting in traffic jams.

“We need drastic action now to tackle this travel carnage and break the logjam. That’s why drafting Britain's best and brightest logistics minds from the army to get things moving again is a no brainer.

“Conservative Ministers need to get a grip on this chaos at the eleventh hour to save the Jubilee weekend. Empowering the army to run point from a command centre would do just that.”

Union leaders are calling for urgent talks with London Mayor Sadiq Khan in a bid to avert a 24-hour Tube strike.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union are set to walk out on Monday, threatening travel chaos immediately after the Jubilee weekend.

The union is protesting over job cuts and a “looming threat” to pensions.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “We are demanding a direct face to face meeting with Mayor Sadiq Khan to sort this mess out.

“There’s no point in our union continuing to sit opposite management representatives who have neither the inclination nor the authority to negotiate a settlement, when the power lies with the Mayor.

“The Mayor of London has tax-raising powers. Just four banks made a profit of £34bn last year and are set to pay out over £4bn in bonuses to London traders. A windfall tax on those profits would more than adequately fund London’s transport network.

“Mayor Khan must choose either the take on the Tory government and demand a just funding deal for Londoners or attack loyal Tube workers who keep the capital moving day in day out.”

In slightly more positive news for travellers, an exciting new high-speed rail link will improve the interrailing experience from next year - covering the 545 miles between Paris and Berlin.

French rail operator SNCF and German operator Deutsche Bahn announced the link in a joint statement last week, with SNCF’s CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou this week saying the journey will take around seven hours.

“We want to launch a TGV Paris-Berlin in December 2023,” Mr Farandou told Agence-France-Presse.

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A father has said a “special holiday” for his terminally ill daughter was cancelled by TUI as they sat on the runway waiting for their plane to take off.

Huw Davies, from Porthcawl, had booked a holiday to Tenerife from Cardiff aiport with travel agency TUI but was “absolutely devastated” after the flight was cancelled.

He claimed he had boarded the flight with eleven other family members for the getaway, which his daughter chose in memory of her late mother.

“This was a family outing for my daughter who has terminal cancer,” he told Wales Online. “It was going to be her last family holiday - and we just got booted off this flight.”

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A group of more than 50 pensioners flew off on their first holiday since lockdown only to end up back where they started 12 hours later following a nightmare day on easyJet.

The group, aged 75 to 92, were supposed to be flying to the Isle of Man from Gatwick after getting there from their homes in Kent.

But their flight had to land in Manchester due to high winds and after a three and a half hour wait it was cancelled and they were flown back to Gatwick.

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