EasyJet expects to cancel hundreds more flights this week due to high levels of Covid-19 among its crew, amid wider disruption at airports and Channel ports at the start of the Easter holidays.
The airline cancelled 222 flights over the weekend and pulled another 62 of those scheduled for Monday because of coronavirus absences. It said it had made efforts to offset staff shortages by rostering additional standby crew on the weekend but was forced to make fresh cancellations at short notice.
The removal of virtually all coronavirus restrictions has brought a surge in passengers wishing to travel – but exacerbated staff shortages in the aviation industry through rising sickness.
British Airways has also cancelled a number of flights while Manchester and Heathrow airports have seen longer, chaotic queues in recent days.
Disruption also spread at the Channel ports, where Easter holidaymakers and lorry drivers travelling to mainland Europe have faced long queues around Dover. Delays to cross-Channel travel worsened after a Eurotunnel Le Shuttle train broke down in the tunnel in the early hours of Monday.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “As a result of the current high rates of Covid infections across Europe, like all businesses easyJet is experiencing higher than usual levels of employee sickness.”
They said the numbers, largely across Gatwick, Luton and Manchester airports, were a small proportion of a total flying programme which was planned to be more than 1,645 flights.
British Airways has cancelled about 100 flights, although only about five were last-minute cancellations directly related to staff absence, a spokesperson said. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week suggested that as many as one in every 13 people in the UK were infected by the virus, a record level.
The ONS said the rise in infections was led by the Omicron coronavirus variant BA.2, while the removal of restrictions and reversion to pre-pandemic behaviours such as socialising in larger groups and wearing masks less have also been cited by some scientists.
Some holidaymakers reported being stuck abroad with no explanation or alternative route home offered by the airline. It comes after passengers were stuck in long queues at Heathrow airport on Sunday morning as the Easter holidays got under way.
The airport attributed the congestion to Covid checks required by destination countries and “high passenger volumes”.
The Home Office confirmed there had been a “technical issue” with the automatic e-gate checkpoints which has since been resolved, and said the problem had not caused queues to exceed the “standard length” at Heathrow.
Some of the worst problems in recent weeks have been at Manchester airport, which has been struggling to cope with renewed demand for travel after laying off or furloughing staff during the pandemic.
Passengers have complained of waiting several hours in line both at check-in and in security, while baggage has also been delayed due to a lack of ground-handling staff.
A spokesperson for Manchester airport apologised to passengers and said they should continue to expect longer queues than normal while the airport continued to recruit and train staff, which also includes lengthy vetting procedures. He added: “Our whole industry is facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges at present, after the most damaging two years in its history … A rapid increase in passenger numbers is putting an enormous strain on our operation.”