People have been urged to expect travel chaos this bank holiday weekend as celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee kick off.
Airports have struggled to cope with demand as many families seek a trip abroad this weekend.
More than 10,000 flights are expected to depart from UK airports between now and Sunday.
The AA has also estimated that around 19 million drivers could take to roads across the country over the weekend.
Drivers have been urged to prepare for delays around supermarkets and other shopping centres.
Andy Marchant, traffic expert at location technology firm TomTom, warned that motorists can expect “high levels of congestion” on UK roads, and advised travelling before noon or after 8pm to avoid the worst of the queues.
Meanwhile Jubilee street parties, expected to take place on Sunday, will see many roads closed.
Amid continued chaotic scenes at Britain’s airports, Grant Shapps has warned aviation industry leaders they must “do their bit” to resolve problems.
The Transport Secretary and Aviation Minister Robert Courts led what the Department for Transport (DfT) described as a “productive meeting” with industry figures representing airports, airlines and ground handling companies on Wednesday.
Mr Shapps warned that resourcing strains on the sector do “not excuse poor planning and overbooking flights that they (airlines) cannot service”.
He described scenes at airports with delays and cancellations as “heart-breaking” as some holidaymakers had hoped to take their first trips abroad after the pandemic.
More than 150 UK flights were cancelled on Wednesday.
Mr Shapps, who warned the aviation leaders that there cannot be a repeat of such disruption over the summer, also emphasised his concerns that airline passengers are being unfairly sold tickets for holidays they cannot go on.
The Tory minister he will continue to discuss options for introducing automatic refunds for passengers.
He said companies who have seen the most disruption “need to learn from those who ran services smoothly” and vowed to continue to monitor the situation closely.
And Mr Shapps added that he and Mr Courts “have made the changes needed to allow the sector to prepare for summer, but now we need industry to do their bit”.
He added: “We have been crystal clear – run services properly and according to schedule or provide swift, appropriate compensation. We do not want to see a repeat of this over the summer – the first post-Covid summer season – and will be meeting again in the coming weeks to understand the progress that is being made.”
The chief executive of Airlines UK, Tim Alderslade, said the problem is not “an airline issue or an airport issue or a Government issue”, but they all “ultimately have to work together to solve this”.
The aviation industry is suffering from staff shortages after letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus pandemic.
Airlines and airports repeatedly called for sector-specific financial support during the Covid-19 crisis as Government travel restrictions suppressed demand.
They are now struggling to recruit new workers and have their security checks processed.
The DfT said the Government and aviation industry will form a working group ahead of the summer holidays to “work through issues of shared concern together”.
Mr Shapps and Mr Courts were said to have stressed during Wednesday’s meeting that the Government remains committed to supporting the sector and called for better packages to be offered within the industry to help build a resilient workforce to meet demand.
