The party’s transport spokesperson, MP Sarah Olney, called for a meeting of the Cobra ministerial committee following a weekend of long queues, delays and cancellations at several UK airports.
She said: “Ministers need to get a grip. Britain’s airports are a complete and utter shambles. It’s clear that both the airlines and government have failed.”
She accused transport secretary Grant Shapps of being “asleep at the wheel” and “doing nothing to help stranded families”, adding: “Now is the time to convene Cobra and use every resource available to get our airports moving again. A failure to act today could see Britain’s Jubilee bank holiday marred in travel chaos, with ministers left to answer serious questions about where they were.”
Abta said part of the issue was that passengers were assuming they had to arrive very early for flights and had begun queuing from the early hours.
“The challenge for us as an industry is to explain to people not to turn up much earlier than they need to," a spokesperson said. “A lot of it is to do with perception, rather than reality.”
Tui declined to put a figure on the number of disrupted flights over the weekend, but said a combination of factors had caused disruption. A spokesperson told TTG:
"We’re still working through everything and are continuing to work closely with our airport partners to provide the best holiday experience possible for our customers."
In a statement, Tui added: “The May half-term holidays are always an incredibly busy period with many customers looking to get away, and this year is no different,” said a spokesperson.
“We understand that many of our customers have been looking forward to these holidays, as it’s the first peak period in more than two years that hasn’t been impacted by border closures and mass testing requirements.
“While flight delays and cancellations with us are rare, unfortunately the sudden increase in people going on holidays combined with various operational and supply chain issues has meant that a small number of our flights have been impacted.”
Tui said it had provided overnight accommodation and transfers where needed, as well as meals and refreshment. It added: “Our flying programme today is not impacted by cancellations.”
Jet2 also declined to give specific details. A spokesperson said: “Our teams are continuing to work tirelessly to look after everyone and we have a very visible uniformed presence in our UK airports as well as in our main overseas airports and in resorts.”
