Thousands of British holidaymakers are stranded abroad following the cancellation of over 100 flights this weekend.
Among the many travellers who jetted off for the May half-term holiday are hundreds of school pupils, who are set to be absent on the first day back after the spring break. Numerous teachers will also be indisposed, while they all face an anxious wait to see when they will finally make it home.
It’s currently exam time in British educational establishments, for both GCSE and A-level children, with the threat of missing these crucial elements of their schooling weighing heavily on students’ shoulders. Airlines are being blamed for taking more bookings than they can manage with lower post-Covid staffing levels.
But the airlines say the government could have done more to support the industry during the pandemic and to speed up the process of security checks for new staff now.
For many, this was their first holidays abroad since the start of the pandemic. But what should have been a joyous time away has turned into a nightmare scenario, with some families having never reached their destination or arrived late, while others are now finding their return flights are not operating.
“The curriculum is packed and losing three days from school, post-Covid isn’t good,” father-of-four Joe Murray from Milton Keynes told the BBC after their Wizz Air return flight from Tenerife was cancelled twice. “There isn’t time to really catch up.
“Wizz Air have had since last Wednesday to get us home, have cancelled once while we had checked in and were waiting at the gate, and the other four hours before the flight. It’s not good enough, though it is worse for a friend whose daughter will be missing an A-level exam on Tuesday.”
Teenager Ben, 17, will manage to make his maths GCSE exam on Tuesday, but only after a frantic search for a ticket back to Blighty from Paris – on the Eurostar and at considerable extra cost – proved fruitful. His mother Emma told the BBC: “He was going to have a couple of days at home to get his revision in, prepare mentally for it.”
“Hopefully he’ll get there. But there’s no guarantee.”
Frustrated easyJet passenger Tamara Strachan took to Twitter to vent her anger: “EasyJet now second flight cancelled back to London! Due to fly out Friday 3rd June from Basel, flight cancelled. Rebooked for 6th June, now also cancelled. stuck in Switzerland with three children.”
Meanwhile, Abbey Bright added: “Still awaiting contact from @easyJet from our cancelled flight on Saturday evening. We had to book our own hotel, make alternative transport arrangements and drive over 450km to catch an alternative flight – all of this, along with two very tired young children.”
Easyjet has apologised for the disruption, saying it was doing everything it could to support passengers. It has extended its customer service opening hours from 7am to 11pm, and was helping those affected find hotel accommodation.
Wizz Air offered customers affected its “sincere apologies”. It said passengers would be offered alternative flights with Wizz Air, a full refund or 120% in airline credit, which it aimed to process within one week.
Easyjet said it had cancelled about 80 flights on Sunday “due to the ongoing challenging operating environment”. The airline said: “We are very sorry and fully understand the disruption this will have caused for our customers,” adding it was doing everything possible to get passengers to their destinations.
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