EasyJet is reportedly set to slash 10,000 flights this summer, which could affect 1.5 million holidaymakers.
The budget airline has been hit by staff shortages and flight caps at major airports, which has caused misery for many passengers. The operator announced it is "proactively" cancelling flights as the industry continues its post pandemic recovery struggles.
A spokesperson said: “In response to these caps and in order to build additional resilience, easyJet is proactively consolidating a number of flights across affected airports. This provides customers with advance notice and the potential to rebook on to alternative flights.” - as Mirror Online reports.
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EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren told reporters "I can't tell you how many flights will be impacted" as "we need to work this through". He added: "It would be misleading for me to give any numbers today because we simply don't know."
However, a source has told the Telegraph that 10,000 flights could be cancelled with trips to typical holiday hotspots like Spain and Greece expected to be impacted. In May, the carrier expected its capacity to be at around 97% of 2019 levels over that three-month period, but this has been reduced to 90%.
EasyJet admitted there will be a "cost impact" from the disruption, and the amount of money it spends to operate each seat per kilometre excluding fuel will "exceed" previous guidance. It said: "We believe that these capacity/cost impacts are a one-off this summer as we would expect all parties to build greater resilience in time for 2023 peak periods."
Mr Lundgren said: "Delivering a safe and reliable operation for our customers in this challenging environment is easyJet's highest priority and we are sorry that for some customers we have not been able to deliver the service they have come to expect from us
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