A perfect travel storm of staff shortages and soaring numbers of travellers will cause gridlock at airports in the UK and Spain in the coming weeks. Long queues are expected before boarding and after arrival ahead of the predicted big Easter getaway.
Recruitment issues and Covid-related staff absences are set to put operations at UK airports under further pressure, with long queues already reported in recent days at London Heathrow, Manchester and Birmingham Airports. The Airport Operators Association (AOA) said its members had been trying to bring in employees to fill vacancies following job losses and staff departing to other industries during the pandemic.
AOA chief executive Karen Dee said passengers “may not have the experience they are used to” at peak times. She advised travellers to arrive early for flights due to longer check-in waits and has also urged people to make sure they have any Covid-related documents needed for their destination.
Manchester Airport has blamed staff shortages for recent long queues and Heathrow said peak demand will be almost back to pre-Covid levels this summer - with airlines, handlers and airports struggling to cope. Many hubs are still trying to bring in extra staff following the pandemic, but this is a lengthy process.
Airports in Spain are already facing problems dealing with large numbers of British tourists. Destinations are braced for a large influx of sunseekers from the UK in the run-up to Easter, with Brexit travel rules adding to congestion.
Spanish airports authority Aena is forecasting that Palma de Mallorca will be handling more than 250,000 passengers this weekend with 1,933 planes - arriving and departing - scheduled. Malaga and Alicante (for Benidorm) have also reported a surge in arrivals since the beginning of March.
There have been calls for more police to be based at airports to deal with UK arrivals, who must now have passports stamped on arrival and departure from Spain after Brexit. Long queues have already been reported at Palma de Mallorca and Alicante this year, while further delays are anticipated because of French air traffic issues.
Tour operators TUI and Jet2 have said bookings are very strong for mainland Spain, the Canary Islands and the Balearics with numbers getting very close to the pre-pandemic sales figures. Kelly Cookes, leisure director, Advantage Travel Partnership, commented: “It’s really positive to see that Easter bookings are almost back to the numbers we saw in 2019.
"We know that the pandemic has created pent-up demand for holidays and this together with the easing of restrictions, is clearly helping to drive further confidence among consumers.”
She added: “Holidaymakers are definitely looking to make their next holiday that extra bit special this year, and whilst the rising cost of living is biting, spending on travel and holidays is so far proving resilient. We are actually seeing many consumers looking to trade up on their holidays, to make up for not travelling overseas for the last two years.”
Top selling locations for Easter include, Majorca, Tenerife, Costa Blanca, Lanzarote and Costa Del Sol.
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