Airline TUI has issued a message to anyone with an upcoming holiday booking amid recent fight delays.
The aviation industry continues to struggle with flight cancellations as the industry recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 290,000 seats being cut from bank holiday flight schedules. Data company Cirium said around 900 flights due to depart from UK airports between Friday and Tuesday were scrapped from July.
The majority of cancellations are due to staff shortages across the aviation industry. Some airports have responded by capping the number of passengers able to fly this summer leading to a spike in air fares, Liverpool Echo reports.
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TUI, which operates short-haul and long-haul flights across the UK, has apologised to passengers who have experienced flight delays in recent weeks. The airline has also requested that holidaymakers with an upcoming booking do not arrive to the airport too early.
In a statement TUI said: "We would like to apologise to some of our customers who have experienced flight delays recently. As the UK’s biggest holiday company, our priority is to take customers on holiday safely. We continue to work closely with our airport partners to monitor the situation and continue to provide the best possible holiday experience for our customers."
It continued: "We are doing everything we can to limit any flight delays, which can happen from time to time for various operational reasons. On the rare occasion flight delays do take place, we will do everything we can to support our customers, through direct communications and providing overnight accommodation and transfers where needed, as well as meals and refreshments."
TUI added: "We’d like to remind customers not to arrive at the airport too far in advance of their flight, as this can contribute to terminal queueing delays. Standard check-in opens at least two and a half hours before departure time for short and mid-haul flights, and at least three and a half hours before departure for long-haul flights. At some airports, we are able to offer day before bag drop and self-service bag drop."
Cirium said the number of outbound flights over the August bank holiday period is 21 per cent below 2019 levels. British Airways has made the largest cut since July 1, with nearly 380 departures scrapped, while Flybe has removed more than 130 outbound flights from its schedules, and easyJet has axed around 90 flights.
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “It’s astonishing to see over a quarter of a million seats cut from flight schedules, at a time when demand to fly remains high. Some UK airports are continuing to impose caps on the numbers departing, so disrupting travel plans and forcing seat prices higher due to the squeeze on availability.
“Our aviation sector should be growing strongly on one of the busiest weekends of the year, and not held back by staff shortages and poor planning by airports and ground handlers. There are aircraft ready to be used but not enough people to get them prepared and off the ground.”
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