Holidaymakers are heading to Europe in huge numbers this Easter, piling pressure on airlines to avoid a repeat of last year’s travel chaos. Flight bookings from the UK to Europe have leapt by 12% compared with the 2019 Easter period, before the pandemic, according to ForwardKeys, a flight data provider, while European tourists are tending to stay at home.
But with strikes affecting airports in the UK and Europe, travellers going abroad face an uncertain weekend. The Port of Dover said on Saturday that it was “deeply frustrated” by “significant delays” to coaches caused by lengthy French border processes and the sheer volume of traffic. A critical incident has been declared and coach passengers have been told to expect delays of several hours.
Industrial action in the run-up to Easter has forced British Airways to cancel 300 flights so far, mostly to Europe. Security staff at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 are on strike until Easter Sunday. EasyJet warned that strikes by Italian air traffic controllers on 2 April and by the airline’s Portuguese workers until 3 April might also affect its schedules. Spanish airport ground staff working for Swissport have several weekday strikes planned until 13 April.
Those staying behind will be able to choose from an unprecedented number of special events taking place next week, according to tourism authorities, although traffic jams are likely, with the AA predicting 15 million people will be on the road at the weekend. UK attractions are making extra efforts to put on Easter events, including a Shaun the Sheep hide-and-seek trail and a theme park in Bristol.
Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys, said that for people travelling from 31 March to 16 April, bookings from UK travellers were “12% ahead of pre-pandemic levels, compared to the European average, which is 15% behind”. He added: “Looking at destinations, Turkey and Greece are set to do best from the surge in UK Easter holidaymakers, with airlines scheduling 63% more seat capacity to Turkey and 49% more to Greece.”
