Third day of Easter getaway mayhem: Staff sickness due to Covid creates huge queues at Manchester

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Britons flocking abroad for an Easter getaway are facing ‘absolute chaos’ at Manchester Airport today, while easyJet passengers contend with cancelled flights and motorists tackle two-hour queues at the port of Dover. 

Less than 24 hours after Manchester Airport chiefs apologised for ‘falling short’ following long delays over the weekend, airline passengers again faced huge queues this morning. It is the third day in a row that the airport – the UK’s third busiest – has had significant delays.

Pictures this morning show long lines of people queuing to get through to security and departures, while passengers have also bemoaned a lack of organisation at the check-in desks. In a tongue-in-cheek Twitter post, one frustrated traveller described a snaking queue at the airport as a world record attempt at the ‘world’s slowest, longest conga line’. 

It comes after images posted on social media over the weekend showed chaos at security and overflowing baggage areas at the airport. Bosses yesterday blamed a shortage of staff due to a spike in Covid cases. 

There has also been a huge spike in demand for travel, with Saturday being the first school holidays since the start of the pandemic and the end of travel restrictions.

To further add to the travel chaos, budget airline easyJet today cancelled up to 100 flights due to Covid-enforced staff shortages. The airline has axed at least 222 trips axed since Friday.

BA has also cancelled at least 115 flights to or from Heathrow Airport on Monday, although it is believed only five were last-minute cancellations caused by coronavirus-related staff shortages.

The total includes some flights axed due to last week’s decision by the airline to reduce its schedule until the end of May to boost reliability, as well as routes suspended for several months because of the pandemic, such as those featuring several Asian destinations.

According to MailOnline’s analysis, at least five flights to European destinations, including Paris, Marseille and Oslo, have been cancelled from Heathrow Terminal 5 today. 

Last week the west London airport faced its own chaos after a major BA IT meltdown forced the airline to cancel or delay hundreds of flights.

Meanwhile, drivers have this morning reported two-hour long waits for the Port of Dover. Gridlocked traffic around Dover, poor conditions in the Channel and the suspension of P&O services caused delays of up to nine hours at the Kent port over the weekend.

Eurotunnel services, meanwhile, are also delayed by up to three hours today due to a train that has come to a halt in the Channel Tunnel. Passenger service Eurostar, which uses the same tunnel, also has delays on its services, according to its website.

Airport disruption, meanwhile, is being blamed on Covid-enforced staff shortages, with Manchester Airport yesterday saying it was exploring the possibility of bringing in short-term agency staff to help bring the chaos under control.

One expert today warned disruption at airports such as Manchester could last for ‘months’, as it and travel firms hire and train new staff to deal with the post-Covid increase in demand.

Though all Covid restrictions – as well as testing and self-isolation requirements – have been lifted in England, as many as 4.9million are now thought to be infected with the virus, according to the UK’s biggest Covid surveillance scheme.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated more than 4.1million people had the virus on any given day over the week to March 26, equivalent to one in 13 being infected.

It comes as passengers said they faced ‘absolute chaos’ at Manchester Airport this morning, with long queues at security.  

One passenger, sharing a picture of the queues, said: ‘5.30am and absolute chaos in Manchester Airport. No organisation whatsoever! Lots missing flights.’  

Another, sharing a video, said: ‘Manchester Airport. ‘This is the current line for security at Terminal 2 this morning. What is happening?’.  

It comes after shocking images showed huge disruption at Manchester Airport over the weekend.

On Twitter, one user posted on Sunday: ‘Manchester Airport not ideal as it’s so busy. 

‘Well done as it’s organised and amazing staff are smiling through abuse and announcements etc…

‘Gutted about our fast track passes and not being able to use them.’

A Manchester Airport spokesperson admitted the airport was short-staffed. In a statement on Sunday, a spokesperson said: ‘We apologise to passengers whose experience at Manchester Airport has fallen short of the standards they expected.

‘As we recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, our whole industry is facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges.

‘As a result we are advising customers that security queues may be longer than usual, and we encourage them to arrive at the earliest time recommended by their airline.

‘Due to the security checks and training associated with these roles, it takes time to for people to be able to start work in our operation

‘That is why we are exploring a number of short-term measures to deliver the best possible service we can, such as the use of agency staff and different ways in which existing colleagues can support our operation.

‘We are aware similar challenges are being faced by airlines and third parties, such as baggage handling agents, operating on our site.

‘Together, we are working hard to deliver the best possible service we can in the circumstances, and to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.’

Meanwhile, easyJet has cancelled around 100 flights on Monday, including 62 from the UK. The budge airline said higher than usual levels of staff absence due to Covid was to blame.

EasyJet – which is one of Europe’s biggest airlines – said the cancellations were a small part of its schedule on Monday, which is around 1,645 flights.  

But it has left passengers facing long delays. One passenger, who was due to fly from Belfast Airport with easyJet this morning, said on Twitter: ‘First trip overseas since COVID. It’s going well… easyJet cancel flight at five hours notice. 

‘Result: A 10 hour delay and 2.00 am arrival in our hotel Now just been charged £14 for a pint and a G&T in the grimiest airport I’ve been in since the year dot. Sigh.’

A spokesperson for easyJet told the BBC: ‘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.

‘Unfortunately it has been necessary to make some additional cancellations for today and tomorrow. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.’

Meanwhile, BA has cancelled at least half a dozen flights from Heathrow Terminal 5 today. Flights to Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Oslo and Krakow are among those cancelled today.

One expert today warned disruption at airports could last ‘months’, as travel firms desperately attempted to up their staffing levels to deal with an increase in demand for travel.

John Strickland, from JLS Consulting, an independent air travel consultancy firm, told BBC Radio 4 today: ‘Certainly the next month of two is going to be very difficult.

‘We know that Manchester Airport has said that passengers should expect queues of one to two hours for the next  several weeks while they undertake additional training.

‘We know that airlines such as BA are recruiting additional cabin crew. 

‘BA has actually reduced down a number of its flights up until the end of May to recognise that way they can operate reliably.’

Away from airports, those taking ferries to France have fared litter better. Some lorry drivers reported up to two hour delays in getting to the Port of Dover this morning.

One wrote on Twitter: ‘Update… almost two hours after entering Dover I’m almost at check in.’

Gridlocked traffic the Kent port, along with poor sea conditions in the Channel and the suspension of P&O services following its recent staffing row resulted in nine hour delays yesterday.

The British Ports Association told The Times that it expected congestion to ease but that disruption would continue until the middle of the week.  

Richard Ballantyne, head of the British Ports Association, told the BBC: ‘Yesterday (Saturday) we were up to nine-hour queues outside the port. 

‘Traffic measures are in place, which… are working fairly well and it enables other people around east Kent and businesses, residents etc to move around freely. 

‘But [it is] not a good position if you’re stuck in a vehicle for six to eight hours.’

Today, to add to the chaos, Eurotunnel – a vehicle carrying railway tunnel that connects Folkestone with Coquelles beneath the English Channel – is reporting a three hour delay to services. The travel firm said it was due to a train stopped in the tunnel. 

‘Due to a train stopped temporarily in the tunnel, our service is currently experiencing delays.  Please check-in as planned. Apologies for this,’ Eurotunnel said on Twitter.

Passenger service Eurostar, which operates trains between London St Pancras and Europe, and which uses the same tunnels, also has delays, according to its website though has yet to post any updates on its Twitter page.

A delay warning on its website says: ‘Your train has been delayed because part of the track is temporarily closed in the Channel Tunnel. 

‘Speed restrictions are in place. We are sorry for the impact this may have on your plans.’ 

It comes after video footage shared online also showed incredibly long queues at security at Manchester Airport, with bunched up passengers struggling to put their items into trays.

Fuming holidaymakers branded the transport hub ‘the worst in Europe’ for failing to prepare for the spike in travel following the easing of Covid restrictions.  

One fed-up passenger fumed: ‘@manairport you are an absolute disgrace! It was dangerous today, people will get hurt if you do not improve things.’ 

Others reported queuing for four hours to get through check-in and security, with several missing flights, while one added: ‘Manchester Airport is a disgrace, dangerous and a shambles.’

Images shared online showed suitcases piling up and falling off the conveyer belt, with some becoming visibly damaged. 

The airport has struggled to cope after seeing passenger numbers explode, with figures for February showing a huge year-on-year increase, from 70,000 passengers to more than two million.  

Manchester Airport is partly owned by the Labour run City Council. Following a meeting with airport bosses, councillor Pat Karney – who previously warned that the travel hub’s reputation was ‘nosediving’ – said they had come up with a six-point plan to fix the issues. 

He also said the airport needed to ‘level with the public’ after being told of problems he had not been aware of, adding: ‘To be brutally honest, we’re going to have delays and queues over Easter’.

The chaos at Manchester followed major disruption at Heathrow last week following an IT meltdown within BA.

More than 5,000 passengers, including those on long-haul flights, were impacted, with almost 1,000 flights either delayed or cancelled within a seven day period. BA said figure included any delay, including those caused by late passengers, as well as historic cancellations, such as on flights to Moscow or those removed from the schedule due to Covid’s impact on the travel industry.

It comes as the biggest Covid surveillance in the UK suggested that Covid is now more rife in England than at any other time during the virus crisis.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week estimated more than 4.1million people had the virus on any given day over the week to March 26, equivalent to one in 13 being infected.

The figure is the highest ever recorded in England, topping the previous peak of 3.7m at the height of the Omicron wave in January. It is also 18 per cent higher than a fortnight ago.

In the most Covid-ridden towns of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, as many as one in nine people were thought to have the virus. And infections have soared to pandemic highs in all over-35s.

Britain’s outbreak as a whole is also bigger than ever, with 4.9m now thought to be infected — up from 4.3m last week.

Statisticians said England’s surge was being driven by the more transmissible version of Omicron, scientifically named BA. Although, ministers admit that ditching the final Covid restrictions last month also fueled the uptick.

Despite the mass testing project warning that cases show no signs of slowing yet, top scientists are hopeful that the worst may be over. Official numbers — reliant on people getting tested, as opposed to random swabbing — have been falling for a week, bolstering hopes that the virus was running out of steam.

Hospitalisations are still ticking upwards, but official figures suggest about half of admissions are now ‘incidental’ — when someone is admitted to hospital for something else such as a fall but then tests positive for Covid. NHS intensive care rates have barely budged, despite cases continuing to soar.

The record-breaking cases were revealed on the day England entered a ‘new era’ of the pandemic, with millions no longer able to get free Covid swabs to check whether they have the virus for the first time in a year.

Experts last week argued the timing of the end of free testing ‘couldn’t really be worse’, and that the country would now have to rely on the public ‘doing the right thing’ and getting tested when unwell. A chorus of gloomy Government advisers last week issued a string of new warnings about the pressure on the health service.

But ministers have insisted it is the ‘right’ moment to scrap the mass-testing regime, which cost No10 up to £2bn-a-month. Only the most vulnerable and health care workers are still able to get free swabs.

Are you impacted by today’s travel disruption? Share your story with me via email: james.robinson@mailonline.co.uk