British Airways cancelled dozens of flights today due to staff shortages, including one from Newcastle and many more from Heathrow.
At least 64 British Airways flights to or from London Heathrow were axed today, including the 15.10 from Newcastle to the West London airport. International services from Heathrow to cities including Berlin, Geneva, Paris and Stockholm were among those pulled on Monday.
Passengers were given advanced warnings about the cancellations, British Airways said. The airline had already chosen to reduce its schedule until the end of May, to mitigate the number of flights cancelled at short notice when there is not enough staff.
Read more: Easter holiday security times at Newcastle Airport to be 'reasonable'
Rival EasyJet cancelled at least 25 flights from London Gatwick today, too.
There has been a surge in demand for flights as many families have travelled abroad for the school Easter holidays, which are the first since the UK’s coronavirus restrictions for international travellers were dropped. Airlines have been keen to attract as many bookings as possible after suffering huge losses due to the virus crisis but are struggling to cope with staff shortages.
The issue is partly caused by difficulties finding new recruits and getting their security checks processed after thousands of jobs were cut during the pandemic. Coronavirus has also led to absences.
Airports including Manchester, Heathrow and Birmingham have experienced lengthy queues in recent weeks. Last week, Newcastle International Airport told ChronicleLive it expects 'reasonable' waiting times at security over the Easter and school holiday period, but is not expecting scenes similar to the 'mayhem' seen in Manchester.
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