Easter holiday hell as UK roads, ferries and airports in cancellation chaos

Posted on : 04/08/2022
Easter holiday hell as UK roads, ferries and airports in cancellation chaos
Travel 

After this week’s chaos at UK airports caused by a combination of planned flight cancellations and high levels of staff sickness Brits may see worse to come.

Today (Friday April 8) and tomorrow (Saturday April 9) are predicted to be some of the busiest days of the Easter holidays.

This means that holidaymakers and families face queues, traffic and crowding not only at airports, but on the roads, trains and ferries too.

A number of flights from British Airways and easyJet have already been cancelled – a massive 110 in total though some of the no-go flights were cut ahead of time and passengers informed of the changes.

While rail engineering work and the fallout from the P&O Ferries scandal could cause issues for those avoiding flying.

All P&O Ferries have been suspended for the weekend while drivers have been left at a standstill in Kent due to delays in Channel crossings.

The Port of Dover claimed it was working “tirelessly to move traffic as effectively as possible” but reduced services and bad weather were causing issues.

The operator stopped all services since March when the firm fired a whopping 800 members of staff in one fell swoop that made headlines around the world.

But, despite saying services would resume today they have instead announced that all P&O ferries are cancelled.

The announcement could make traffic around the ports worse around the M20.

Today, which is the eighth day of travel disruption in Kent, there is a massive queue of traffic waiting to get into the Port of Dover.

Ru Roberts, UK Country Manager at Waze – a tool that lets you get real-time traffic updates – said: ”Brenley Corner lane closures are impacting major routes throughout Kent. Live traffic reports on Waze show bumper to bumper traffic at Junction 7 on the A2, the M2 (E) and A2 (Canterbury Road), with average speeds of just 3mph.

"This is having a knock-on effect for those seeking alternative routes to the Channel Tunnel, with speeds on the E15 Channel Tunnel Access Road dropping to 0.6mph. As we approach the weekend, drivers should take extra time to check routes before setting off.”

More than 27million cars are expected to hit the roads next weekend, according to the AA, which could see traffic even worse than today.

And, over the last week over 1,000 flights have been cancelled to or from UK airports with large queues into airports causing passengers to miss flights, reports the Independent.

This Saturday will see the start of the Easter rush and many holidaymakers are worried whether they will be able to catch their flights.

Airports have been telling travellers to check with their airline over departure times and what time they should arrive at airports.

Here is a list of the flights cancelled today so far:

British Airways to/from Heathrow

Domestic

  • Aberdeen 0850, 1430
  • Edinburgh 1415
  • Glasgow 1815,
  • Manchester 0855, 2205
  • Newcastle 0725

European

  • Prague 0630, 1530
  • Amsterdam 0640
  • Milan Malpensa 0705, 1510, 2035
  • Brussels 0715
  • Paris 0720
  • Krakow 0740
  • Toulouse 0750, 1555
  • Marseille 0805
  • Budapest 0805
  • Algiers 0805
  • Tirana 0815, 1420
  • Rome 0820
  • Bucharest 0825
  • Athens 0845
  • Zagreb 0905
  • Madrid 1305
  • Stockholm 1415
  • Frankfurt 1515
  • Vienna 1520
  • Hamburg 1540
  • Bologna 1605
  • Berlin 1815
  • Larnaca 1830

Meanwhile easyJet has cancelled 42 flights so far on Friday.

EasyJet to/from Gatwick

  • Agadir
  • Venice
  • Preveza
  • Mahon (Menorca)
  • Berlin
  • Milan Malpensa
  • Milan Linate
  • Verona
  • Hamburg
  • Budapest
  • Montpellier
  • Bordeaux
  • Ibiza

EasyJet to/from Luton

  • Amsterdam (2)
  • Belfast International
  • Malaga
  • Milan Malpensa
  • Bodrum

EasyJet to/from Bristol

  • Krakow
  • Dubrovnik

EasyJet to/from Manchester

  • Berlin
  • Hamburg

EasyJet to/from Belfast International

  • Luton

Next weekend, five of the country’s rail networks will be disrupted for the bank holiday which could worsen travel again, claims WalesOnline.

London stations and routes will be the most affected, this includes:

  • Euston Station will face line closures from the 15th to 18th of April. Euston is Britain's fifth busiest station and the busiest inter-city railway and connects London to Scotland, West Midlands, North West England and North Wales.
  • London Victoria will have no Southern services running to and from the station on Saturday 16th April including trains from Brighton and Gatwick Express trains.
  • Stansted Airport will have no direct trains from London and will be replaced by buses.
  • Thameslink and Northern will also be running revised timetables throughout the weekend.

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