Paul Sandle

LONDON (Reuters), Thousands of tourists have had their Easter vacations cancelled or disrupted by insufficient staff at airports and airlines. This is because European pandemic restrictions have been eased, which means that there are fewer people available to help them.

The high rates of COVID-19 have led to staff shortages in Britain for both airlines and airports already having difficulty recruiting after the pandemic.

EasyJet, a low-cost airline (LON) was among the most affected. It cancelled 60 UK flights Tuesday. They expect to cancel another similar amount in the next few days. More than 200 flights were cancelled at the weekend, and another 62 Monday.

Paul Charles, the head of The PC Agency’s travel consulting, stated that it can take up to three months for a bad mix of staff shortages and COVID illnesses. There is also a long wait in getting security permits approved for airline and airport workers.

He said, “It is ironic that people’s desire to book again post-pandemic causes more complicated transport problems than the ones created by COVID.”

EasyJet stated that it was adding additional staff, but cancelled flights on frequent routes so customers had an option to rebook.

British Airways (BA), according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, cancelled 662 flights during the week ending Sunday. This includes long-haul flights that were suspended by sanctions on Russia or COVID-affected areas of Asia. BA refused to give a number for cancelations.

On Wednesday, another IT issue caused delays for the airline. A spokesperson for the airline said Tuesday that there were only a few flights cancelled because of staff sickness.

He said that delays in the government-required background checks of new staff had hampered the increase in flights to summer. The airline has already reduced the planned growth of its services by 20 flights per days until the end May.

LOCATED ON THE GROUND

Both on-the ground and in the air, staff shortages can be a major problem.

On Tuesday, Manchester Airport was Britain’s third-busiest airport after Heathrow, London, and Gatwick. Passengers complained that they waited for hours at the baggage carousel.

The airport apologized.

On Twitter, it stated that security queues could be longer as we recover from the pandemic.

According to the British Airport Operators Association, its members increase their staff speedily.

However, a tight labor market combined with delays in security screenings for returning and new staff along with COVID-related absentees may put airports under pressure.

According to it, “This could mean that there are longer lines at peak times for travel,”

Dublin Airport advised passengers to expect long queues for up to weeks while it rebuilt its operations and recruited and trained new security personnel. Ryanair, Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier, whose passengers topped levels pre-pandemic, called for the Irish government’s use of the army to manage the delays. They fear the effects on Easter.

Fraport is Germany’s most important airport operator. It also advised passengers of possible delays on Easter.

According to a spokesperson, the group has nine facilities and operates Frankfurt’s main international airport. They are looking for 1,000 employees this year.