Airlines are suffering from staff shortages related to coronavirus sickness, leading to flights being grounded and passengers at Manchester Airport have reported long queues in recent days and ‘chaos’ at the airport.
The travel disruption is affecting many families heading abroad for the Easter school holiday, which is the first since the UK’s coronavirus restrictions for international travelers were dropped.
EasyJet canceled 62 flights yesterday (Monday), after axing at least 222 flights over the weekend and more are expected today and throughout the week.
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Travel chaos as flights are cancelled
You can check the status of your easyJet flight on their flight tracker here. Just enter your flight number or the origin country or destination of your flight.
A spokesman for the airline 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.”
The airline attempted to limit the impact on passengers by focusing cancellations on routes with multiple daily flights.
The spokesman added that the number of cancellations “represents a small proportion” of the total flights planned.
Responding to the news that easyJet has been forced to cancel more fights today and expects more flight cancellations in the coming days, Michael Foote, Editor in Chief of Quotegoat.com said: “This is distressing news for travelers and their families. If your flight is canceled you should be asked whether you want a full refund or to re-book on an alternative flight. EasyJet should cover the cost of transport if you need to travel from a different airport to catch your replacement flight.”
“You have a legal right to help with costs if the cancellation delays you two or more hours. You’re also entitled to financial compensation if you’re delayed two or more hours by the replacement flight offered and you were given less than two weeks’ notice.
“If your flight is canceled less than seven days before departure you may be able to claim between £110 – £520 compensation depending on the distance of your flight.”
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