Conducted over 20-31 July, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) opinions and lifestyle survey – which polled nearly 2,500 UK adults – revealed the issues many travellers continue to face as travel emerges from the Covid crisis.
In total, 16% of respondents said they travelled abroad in the four weeks prior to being questioned, with 38% of those that did travel telling the ONS they experienced some form of disruption.
The majority of respondents (89%) made one overseas trip, with 10% making two. Nine in 10 (90%) travelled by air, while 13% said they travelled exclusively – or additionally – by train, boat or ferry.
Of those that travelled by air and suffered disruption, 87% said their flight was delayed or they faced a wait on the aircraft, while 56% said they experienced abnormally long queues at the airport.
Three in 10 reported longer queues for luggage; 19% said they experienced a cancelled flight or flights; 14% had to deal with lost luggage; while 4% experienced delays or a lack of airport assistance such as wheelchair access.
The survey also explored cost of living pressures, with 89% of respondents reporting their living costs had risen in the past month. This is up from 62% when the question was first introduced in early November 2021.
Three-quarters of adults said they were very or somewhat worried about rising living costs in the past fortnight, while 44% said they were finding it very or somewhat difficult to pay their energy bills.
