Travel chaos continues as British Airways and easyJet cancel more flights today

MORE flights have been cancelled today as airlines struggle to cope with staff shortages.

British Airways and easyJet have axed more than 100 flights between them today.

2

BA has cancelled the most, with 68 scheduled flights not taking off.

Last month, BA announced it would be reducing its summer schedule between now and the end of May to try and avoid more travel problems, after thousands of passengers had their flight cancelled due to IT issues.

As a result, 67 of today’s cancelled flights were pre-planned, with just one being cancelled at the last minute due to staff shortages caused by Covid.

The cancelled flight was from Heathrow to Manchester.

According to The Independent, easyJet has cancelled 42 flights today due to staff shortages.

A spokesman for easyJet said last week: “As a result of the current high rates of Covid infections across Europe, like all businesses easyJet is experiencing higher than usual levels of employee sickness.”

On some occasions, both BA and easyJet have booked passengers who had their flights cancelled onto alternative flights to try to accommodate them.

However, many of the rebooked flights return to the UK sooner than holidaymakers had planned, forcing them to cut their trips short so they can make the new flights.

Furious passengers have taken to Twitter to share their frustration at having to end their holidays early – leaving them out of pocket.

One person tweeted: “Why do easyJet think it’s acceptable to cancel flights and rebook for a different day. Now losing money for the hotel booking that we are having to leave a day early and we are going to have to pay for transit as the other half of our party have been rebooked on a different day!”

Another person wrote: “So why are we not getting notification of flights being cancelled? No compensation offered and now having to fly home early from my holiday in Sardinia.”

This weekend is expected to be the busiest travel weekend of the year so far, and cops are being called in to Manchester Airport to help deal with it.

The airport’s boss quit after days of travel chaos and warnings passengers will face delays for months to come.

Following the chaos, Stansted Airport has released a list of tips for holidaymakers to help them navigate the long queues expected over the Easter weekend.

Here’s what you should do if your flight is cancelled, and we’ve explained how to claim compensation if your flight is delayed or cancelled.

2