Thousands of British tourists were detained at UK airports today after Heathrow was forced to cancel 10% of its flights due to a baggage backlog, leaving 15,000 travellers stranded.
Passengers’ travel plans have been thrown into chaos at the last minute, following a week of flight cancellations, as the ongoing staffing crisis at Britain’s transport hubs continues to cause havoc.
90 flights are expected to be impacted after airlines operating from Heathrow’s Terminals 2 and 3 were urged to reduce their flight schedules.
According to the Independent, Virgin Atlantic has canceled at least three long-haul flights to places such as New York and Los Angeles, while British Airways has been forced to issue “a modest number of cancellations.”
Three of BA’s scheduled flights to Toulouse, France, have been canceled, as have two of the four Marseille departures.
Meanwhile, EasyJet has announced that it is ‘proactively consolidating a handful of flights’ at airports affected by ‘operational problems,’ including London Gatwick and Amsterdam Schiphol.
Between April and June, the airline forecasts capacity to be 87 percent of 2019 levels, rising to 90 percent in the following three months.
It added that the disruption will have a ‘cost impact,’ and that the amount spent to operate each seat per kilometer, excluding fuel, will ‘beyond’ earlier forecasts.
‘We anticipate that these capacity/cost consequences are a one-time occurrence this summer, as we would expect all partners to establish stronger resilience in time for peak periods in 2023,’ the statement continued.
The reason for the continued pandemonium is a personnel shortage in the aviation industry, which has resulted in customers being urged to arrive far earlier than usual for their flights owing to long lines.
While many businesses in the aviation industry are trying to rehire employees who were laid off during the pandemic due to a drop in demand as a result of recurrent lockdowns, high levels of employee sickness are also having an impact.
‘We regret unreservedly for the disruption travellers have experienced throughout the course of this weekend,’ a Heathrow spokesperson said.
‘Due to technical challenges with baggage systems, we have decided to suggest that airlines operating at Terminals 2 and 3 consolidate their itineraries on Monday, June 20th.’
We will be able to reduce the ongoing impact as a result of this, and we ask that all passengers check with their airlines for the most up-to-date information.’
Holidaymakers are facing even more travel disruption today, with extremely long lines forming at Bristol, Manchester, and Heathrow Airports as early as 4 a.m.
‘I’ve been queuing for an hour and I’m not even at security…’ wrote one’stressed out’ traveller at Manchester Airport on Twitter. ‘My stress levels are at an all-time high!’
After letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus outbreak, the aviation industry is suffering from a staffing deficit.
The chaos erupted after a pilot was seen moving luggage onto a plane and assisting ground personnel with baggage loading ahead of an Edelweiss trip from Edinburgh airport.
Heathrow officials blamed a ‘technical malfunction’ in the luggage system for the problem, which began on Friday. However, it has resulted in a massive baggage backlog, which has been dubbed a “carpet of luggage.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of travelers are said to have waited up to three hours for their luggage after arriving at Heathrow today.
The ‘ongoing interruption’ following Friday’s problem, according to a representative for the west London airport. However, they stated that no extra baggage will be delayed.
They also stated that the airport is doing all possible to ensure that all customers flying today are able to bring their bags with them, and that baggage is the responsibility of airlines, not the airport.
Huge lines formed at Stansted airport yesterday, with several passengers describing the scenes of people sleeping in the airport overnight as “like a gunfight.”
Yesterday morning, Labour shadow minister David Lammy was caught up in the mayhem, tweeting to his more than 780,000 followers to draw attention to the situation.
‘Another morning, another awful queue at airport security!’ he wrote, mocking the government. This time we’ll be in Stanstead. Boris Johnson, you’ve done a fantastic job. Priti Patel deserves high praise. ‘Welcome to #BacklogBritain,’ says the narrator.