There is some potential good news on Tuesday (26 April), though, with hints the government may be preparing a package to offset the huge rise in household bills, which some agents have said could potentially impact people’s holiday spending power.
Meanwhile, there are moves to make the forthcoming 3 June bank holiday a permanent fixture. Here are the key travel updates making national press headlines on Tuesday 26 April.
Passport delays threaten holidays
The Passport Office has blamed processing delays on a surge in demand after lockdown, with five million Britons putting off renewing during the pandemic. Adding to the pressure, post-Brexit travel rules require UK citizens to have at least three months validity on their passports. Ten-week processing targets are routinely being breached, parliament was told. (The Telegraph)
Million passport applications in a month
Unprecedented demand saw a million passport applications last month, a Commons debate was told. Parliament heard on Monday the Passport Office normally dealt with seven million in a whole year. (The Times)
Emergency plan to cut household bills considered
Ministers have been ordered to draw up emergency plans to slash the price of food, oil products, clothes and phones to ease Britain’s cost-of-living crisis. The prime minister is scrambling his top team to come up with radical proposals to knock hundreds of pounds off family bills. (The Sun)
Call to make extra bank holiday permanent
Business leaders have urged the prime minister to make this year’s Queen’s Platinum Jubilee bank holiday on 3 June permanent. The CBI, UK Hospitality and well-known brands said a "thank holiday" would honour the monarch and public service. Research by PwC also suggests government figures have overestimated the cost of a new bank holiday by 64%. (BBC News)
Court to rule on Qatar Airways paint row
A billion-dollar row between Airbus and Qatar Airways is set to land at the High Court in London today, when a judge will be asked to rule in a dispute about peeling paint on aircraft. The 16-month legal spat will decide whether the airline is right to claim peeling and cracking paint on Airbus A350s makes them unsafe. (The Times)
Aircraft leasing companies battle to retrieve Russian fleets
Aircraft leasing companies have launched a multinational effort to persuade safety authorities to allow grounded planes that were returned from Russia without full maintenance records back into commercial service. So far, only 41 of 500 have been retrieved. (Sky News)
