The Easter holidays are off to a chaotic start for Brits, as airports including Manchester, Birmingham and Heathrow have seen huge queues and delays caused by staff shortages and flight cancellations.
Meanwhile, staff shortages caused by Covid saw easyJet cancel over 200 flights in recent days, while British Airways was also hit by a wave of cancellations. (If you're due to fly, we've got guides on how to check if your flight is cancelled as well as your refund rights if you're affected).
As a result of the ongoing disruption, passengers heading on flights with major airlines including TUI, easyJet, British Airways, Jet2 and Ryanair are being urged to arrive even earlier at airports, in a bid to avoid the long delays.
Manchester Airport has subsequently urged passengers to arrive "at the earliest time your airline allows" for flights.
A statement on its Twitter account read: "As we continue to recover from the pandemic and passenger numbers grow, security queues may be longer than usual at times. If you're due to travel in the next few weeks, please arrive at the earliest time your airline allows. We apologise to our customers for the disruption."
As for the "earliest time" which airlines allow you to arrive at the airport, this can vary depending on whether you're flying a short-haul or long-haul journey.
To give you a helping hand, we've rounded up what the biggest airlines' policies are for arriving at the airport - including the earliest time they suggest you arrive.
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easyJet
easyJet's online check-in opens 30 days before departure and closes two hours before.
Bag drop opens two hours before departure on all flights, so this is the earliest time to arrive. It's worth noting that if you're flying to Israel, this is extended to three hours before departure.
TUI
TUI opens online check-in 14 days before your departure date. The airport Bag Drop desks open three hours before your departure time - so this is the earliest time you can arrive at the airport.
It's worth noting that this applies for TUI Airways - if you've booked a package that includes flights with a different airline, you'll need to check their own rules for bag drop and check-in.
British Airways
BA's online check-in opens 24 hours before your flight.
The airline recommends that you arrive at the airport two hours before short-haul flights and three hours before long-haul flights. It's worth noting that airport check-in usually closes about 45 minutes to an hour before departure, so if you're planning to check-in at the airport you may want to give yourself some extra leeway.
Jet2
The airline's online check-in opens 28 days before your flight, and closes five hours before your departure.
Meanwhile, airport check-in desks open at least 2 hours 30 minutes before a flight departure time. Although Jet2 doesn't specify a recommended arrival time on its website, it does caveat: "Please arrive at the airport in good time, as our check-in desks will close 40 minutes before your scheduled departure time. By this point, you must have completed the check-in process."
Ryanair
Advice on the Ryanair website states: "We recommend that you check-in baggage as early as possible, the Bag Drop desks open two hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time."
They warn: "The Bag Drop desks close strictly 40 minutes before the scheduled time of departure. If you miss this deadline your booking could be cancelled without refund and you could be prevented from boarding the plane."
Have you been affected by the delays? Email us on webtravel@trinitymirror.com.
