Three of the most popular routes for British holidaymakers could be hit with disruption this summer.
Last year was one of the most chaotic in the history of UK aviation, as the pressures of post-lockdown worker shortages, Brexit and massively increase demand came together to overload some airports.
Travel experts have already suggested this summer may also be blighted by similarly long queues, cancellations and delays.
Now analysis conducted by AirAdvisor has highlighted three popular summer destinations where Brits could experience disruptions and chaos during the peak holiday seasons.
The travel disruption compensation specialists assessed data from summer 2022 and combined these statistics with current trends relating to flight delays and cancellations in April this year.
While the majority of holidaymakers are likely to get through airports with few issues this summer, if you're desperate to minimise potential disruption, you may want to consider other destinations.
Spain
According to Anton Radchenko, CEO of AirAdvisor, trips to Spain are likely to be disrupted.
"The UK’s most popular foreign holiday destination is perhaps unsurprisingly one of the regions where travellers are most likely to experience disruptions to their plans, in part down to the sheer volume of flights," he said.
"Between May 7 and June 6 2022, a huge 110 flights to Spain were cancelled, and travellers should prepare for a similar story this summer."
It is worth noting that hundreds of flights take place between the UK and Spain every week, so the actual percentage chance of yours being cancelled won't, hopefully, be too high.
Italian cities
Anton also highlighted popular Italian cities as likely to encounter some issues this summer.
"Last summer, UK travellers to much-loved Italian cities like Milan, Venice and Naples suffered heavily from cancellations, with British Airways’ regularly cutting flights to Milan," he said.
"From May 7 to June 6 last year, 25 flights from Gatwick to Milan were cancelled (11.6 per cent).
"Across a five-day period this April the majority of BA flights from Milan were delayed, in many cases by up to 40 minutes.”
Southern France
“Popular destinations in the South of France like Bordeaux, Nice and Marseille fell foul to consistent cancellations and delays last summer, a route EasyJet serves heavily," Anton said.
“Between June 7 and July 10 2022, 50% of flights from Bristol to Marseille were cancelled.
"Current trends suggest that the major airlines still haven’t quite got a hold on these routes, with the busy summer period approaching.
"Between 19-24 April this year, half of EasyJet’s flights from Gatwick to Nice landed late.”
