Axed flights have left holidaymakers stranded abroad as the Government and aviation industry blame each other for the ongoing half-term travel chaos.
Airlines and airports have been blasted for their handling of a surge in passenger numbers over the half-term break and Jubilee Bank Holiday, with flights cancelled, eye-watering delays at terminals and holidaymakers forced to fly without luggage.
Families desperately trying to return to the UK were stranded at airports across Europe as carriers, including British Airways, easyJet and Wizz Air, cancelled flights.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps took aim at operators for failing to be ready for the surge in demand and dismissed calls from Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary to send in The Army.
"The airports and the airlines, the travel industry, need to make sure we sort it out," he told BBC Sunday Morning.
"It is very important that flights aren't oversold, for example, and I want to make sure there is automatic compensation for passengers.
"We'll work with the industry very hard between now and the summer to make sure we don't see a repeat of those scenes.
"Clearly, they have been taken by surprise by the way people have returned to travel after two years of being locked down but I'm not surprised - we were saying all along, ‘You will need to be ready for this’.”
Ruling out sending in the military to help security checks and baggage handling, he said: "The Army is not a snap solution to every problem.
"Secondly, they are being deployed in increasing numbers to eastern Europe, to the Baltics, in what is a war situation and that's what the Army are principally there for. The airports and airlines will need to sort out this problem.
"The Government will give them every support, but I don't anticipate that will include calling in the Army."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan claimed the chaos at airports was “self-inflicted from the Government”.
"Listen, it isn't about Covid, this is about Brexit plus Covid," he said.
Mr Khan suggested allowing European workers who were employed in the aviation industry before Brexit and the pandemic to come back to plug the labour shortages.
But Mr Shapps rejected calls to temporarily allow more foreign workers into the industry.
"The answer can't always be to reach for the lever marked 'More immigration'," he said.
Mr Shapps also dismissed arguments that Brexit was a factor, saying there were delays at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport too.
The row unfolded as Britain’s biggest airport, Heathrow, ordered airlines to slash by a third the number of passengers flying from its terminals at certain times of the day until July 3.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: "Passenger numbers are higher now than at any time since the start of the pandemic – and growing.
"We expect and have been preparing for an extremely busy summer season. That being said, there are still COVID restrictions in place for nearly 80% of our markets – which means that airlines and their check-in colleagues take longer to process each passenger through check-in."
Lisa Webb, a legal expert at Which?, said passengers had suffered a “hellish week”.
She said: “The shameful scenes at airports this half-term are the result of an industry in which some airlines feel they can get away with ignoring consumer rights and acting with near impunity.”
Trade body the Airport Operators Association (AOA) said the UK had one of the most restrictive travel regimes during the pandemic and the industry was unable to plan properly until the rules were lifted.
A spokesperson said: "Airports anticipated it would be challenging at peak times as the industry seeks to re-start and have had big recruitment campaigns underway since before the start of this year.
"But until the restrictions were lifted, uncertainty about the future of travel made this difficult. Since then, there has been a very positive response and airports are now seeing additional staff completing the required vetting and training, and being deployed.
"As a result, while queues may be longer at certain times at some airports, most passengers are getting through airport security – and away on their holidays – smoothly."
Airports are working closely with the Government ahead of the summer holidays, the spokesperson said.
Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade told the Mirror: “The way to resolve this is through the working group announced last week by Government, where we can sit down with ministers to consider the art of the possible in terms of practical measures that can make a difference - in particular on recruitment - as we enter the summer period.”
