Hundreds of thousands of British passengers are expected to be stranded at European airports following up to 200 aircraft cancellations over the weekend, while the London Underground has encouraged passengers not to travel, warning of serious disruption across the network when service resumes on Monday.
People are being advised not to travel by the London Underground, which has warned of major disruption across the network from the start of service on Monday until 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
In a dispute over jobs and pensions, members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) are taking strike action.
Some train services will run, but many stations, particularly in central and south London, will be closed, while others may only be open for a limited time, according to Transport for London (TfL).
Meanwhile, up to 200 flight cancellations over the weekend are expected to strand tens of thousands of British passengers at airports across Europe.
EasyJet cancelled 80 flights on Sunday “due to the continuous tough climate,” while Eurostar passengers were subjected to delays and cancellations due to power outages near Paris.
The bulk of easyJet flights were cancelled from Gatwick Airport on Sunday, but British Airways, Wizz Air, and Vueling are also believed to have been affected.
After letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus outbreak, the aviation industry is suffering from a staffing deficit.
Airlines are now having difficulty recruiting new employees and processing security checks, which they claim is being slowed by government red tape.
Despite government warnings, travel companies have “seriously oversold flights and holidays relative to their capacity to deliver,” said to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
He has stated that he will “do all possible” to ensure that vacationers are able to get away without problems this summer.
Following a meeting with airports, airlines, and ground handling businesses last week, the Cabinet minister claimed he had responded to industry calls to speed up worker security checks and allow some non-security workers to begin training immediately.
Despite getting £8 billion in state backing and having access to furlough money to keep personnel on the books when COVID travel restrictions were in place, he claimed it is duty to the sector to fix the problems, accusing CEOs of “cutting too far.
“Clearly, the manner people have returned to travel after two years of being shut down has taken them by surprise,” he added, “but I’m not surprised – we’ve been saying all along: You’ll need to be ready for this.”
