Airline and holiday firm Jet2 has accused UK airport operators of being "woefully ill-prepared" in the clamour for holidays following the end of Covid restrictions - though it has cleared Newcastle Airport of most of the blame.
The founder of the UK's third largest airline said the lack of planning among the 10 airports Jet2 flies from was "inexcusable" and had led to "atrocious customer service" amid chaos experienced by holidaymakers desperate for long overdue breaks.
Philip Meeson, executive chairman of the Leeds-based carrier, said: “Broadly, most of our 10 UK base airports have been woefully ill-prepared and poorly resourced for the volume of customers they could reasonably expect, as have other suppliers, such as onboard caterers and providers of Airport PRM (passengers with reduced mobility) services. Inexcusable, bearing in mind our flights have been on sale for many months and our load factors are quite normal.
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“Theirs and the ground handling suppliers' often atrocious customer service, long queues for security search, lack of staff and congestion in baggage handling areas, and the consequent airport congestion, together with the frequent lack of onboard catering supplies, have each contributed to a very much poorer experience at the start and finish of our customers' holidays than they were entitled to expect. Inevitably, these customer-facing challenges have put extra pressure on our colleagues, both in the UK, onboard our aircraft and in our holiday destinations.
“This difficult return to normal operations has occurred simply because of the lack of planning, preparedness and unwillingness to invest by many airports and associated suppliers.”
The comments came as Jet2 said it had narrowed operating losses to £323.9m from £336.1m - during the period in which the travel sector was recovering from pandemic restrictions. Jet2 said there was "enormous pent-up demand" for its flights but acknowledged that price rises were likely.
The firm said performance for 2023 would depend on how quickly the broader aviation sector returns to some level of stability, as well as the strength of bookings for the remainder of this summer. During the period it flew 4.85m passengers, an increase of 267% on 2021, and 51% of those travellers had bought package holidays from the Jet2holidays arm.
A statement released by the company later in the day said: "Our Preliminary Results stated today that, broadly, most of our 10 UK base airports have been woefully ill‐prepared and poorly resourced for the volume of customers they could reasonably expect. Bearing in mind that our flights have been on sale for many months and our load factors are quite normal, this is very true.
"That said, the team at Newcastle Airport have taken a number of positive steps to ensure their operations run smoothly but, like us, they have been impacted by third parties. Our customers in the North East are continuing to get away to enjoy their well-deserved holidays from their local airport without the disruption seen in some UK airports across the UK.”
A Newcastle Airport spokesman said: "“Newcastle is not one of the airports being referred to. This year, 98% of our passengers have been processed through security in six minutes or less and our passenger services team has achieved a ‘very good’ rating from the CAA.
"This performance is a great reflection on the airport and a testament to all of our hard-working teams. We look forward to welcoming even more of our passengers back to the airport this summer.”
A spokesperson for the Airport Operators Association said: “Airports have been preparing for this summer since the end of last year, but it was not until March that all travel restrictions fell away and many people felt able to return to aviation, both for travel and employment.
“Recruitment campaigns for security staff are ongoing and progressing well, with more staff being deployed as they finish their training and security vetting. Airports are also working closely with airlines, the companies managing check-in and baggage on behalf of airlines as well as the Government to alleviate any delays where they do occur and to support others in the industry who are coping with staff shortages.
“By working closely together in this way, we aim to deliver the service that passengers have rightly come to expect.”
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