Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Travel
Simon Calder

Ask Me Anything: Simon Calder to answer your travel questions ahead of rail strike chaos

PA Wire

Following weeks of chaos at the UK’s airports, with major airlines cancelling flights daily - some just hours before, or even after passengers have boarded the plane - the country’s airlines will now face questions from MPs.

The Business, Energy and Industrial Select Committee is set to grill airline bosses, unions and aviation industry bodies over the flight cancellations faced by holidaymakers over the May half-term holiday on Tuesday, 14 June.

The UK’s biggest budget airline, easyJet, has been cancelling dozens of flights daily, while BA has taken hundreds out of its schedule in the first few weeks of the summer travel period. Both airlines say staff shortages and sickness absences have contributed to the reduced number of flights.

Many are wondering, why wasn’t the travel industry braced and ready for the influx of holidaymakers who had booked trips during May and June? Some travellers are concerned that their flights in the coming weeks - many of the cancelled routes being domestic UK and short-haul European journeys - will not go ahead.

Meanwhile, Heathrow’s Terminal 4 reopens this week after a two-year closure, and rail journeys will be affected by a series of strikes planned for this summer.

So what does all this mean for your holiday?

Our expert Simon Calder - who is appearing at the Select Committee evidence session - will be on hand on Wednesday, 15 June, to answer all your questions in an ‘Ask me anything’ event, between 4-5pm. He will be answering live in the comments section below.

Register to submit your question in the comments box under this article. If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments section to leave your question.

Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they will be hidden until Simon joins the conversation to answer them.

Then join us live on this page from 4pm as Simon tackles as many of your travel queries as he can within an hour.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.