Warnings of long air-traffic control delays on flights to Europe and a broken rail on Britain’s flagship rail route have got the bank holiday weekend off to a difficult start.
Rail passengers face further disruption on a range of routes in the UK for planned engineering work, while motoring organisations are predicting long delays on key holiday routes.
Looking further ahead into May, rail passengers in France are being warned by the unions of a semaine noire (“black week”). And at London Gatwick airport, the Unite union is predicting disruption.
These are the key pain points for travellers.
Air
Air traffic control centres in Continental Europe are chronically understaffed, leading to widespread flight delays and, sometimes, cancellations.
Ryanair, Europe’s biggest budget airline, calculates that more than 91,000 passengers are delayed by staff shortage at air traffic control (ATC) centres on a typical day.
Eurocontrol, the pan-European air-navigation body, says “ATC capacity/staffing” was responsible for 69 per cent of all en-route delays. The worst offender is France, which accounted for 42 per cent of such delays. The Marseille Area Control Centre generated most of them, with Bordeaux and Reims also holding up flights.
In Greece, staff shortage at Athens and the Macedonia Area Control Centre also caused significant delays.
Specific airports with air traffic control staffing issues include Athens and Nice. Many of the first wave of departures from Nice were delayed on Friday morning.
A fire broke out on the apron at Bristol airport on Friday morning, leaving passengers in shock as they were about to board an aircraft.
Large clouds of smoke could be seen coming from the ground near an empty Ryanair plane, which was due to fly from Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, a video obtained by BBC News shows. The fire was caused by a faulty ground power unit and was quickly extinguished.
In the UK, the Unite union has warned of disruption at Gatwick airport later in May. Ground staff plan to walk out at the ground handling firm Red Handling on 11, 18 and 25 May and 2 June. Refuellers at Redline will strike for four days from 16 May and from 23 May, with the latter action intended to hit the late May bank holiday and half-term. Both disputes are over pay.
Unite’s regional officer David Taylor said: “We appreciate that delays and cancellations are very frustrating for those looking to travel, especially during the half-term holidays but this is a dispute entirely of Red Handling and Redline’s own making. We urge them both to come back to the table for negotiations.”
The union says Redline works for airlines including easyJet, the airport’s biggest operator. But a spokesperson for easyJet said: “Should any action go ahead, contingency plans that we have been advised are in place mean we do not expect any impact and our flying programme is currently planned to operate normally, so nothing different should be suggested.”
The Independent has asked Gatwick airport to comment.
Rail
A broken rail on the southbound track of the East Coast main line between York and Doncaster is causing widespread disruption.
LNER is warning passengers planning to use the line: “We strongly advise you to avoid travelling if you can. Trains are running, but there is major disruption, and you may be heavily delayed and/or experience severe overcrowding.”
On Saturday, large-scale planned engineering work begins. Once again the West Coast main line, linking London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England and southern Scotland, is the target of Network Rail engineering work over the bank holiday weekend. The warm-up is on Saturday, with disruption at various locations between Preston and Carstairs in Scotland. One train will run each hour from London to Preston, with some extending as far as Carlisle. Links onward to Edinburgh and Glasgow will involve rail replacement buses.
Adding to that disarray on Sunday and Monday: Euston station is closed and trains will start and end at Milton Keynes Central. A rail replacement bus will connect that station with Bedford, on the Thameslink line to London St Pancras.
Elsewhere, London Victoria will be closed to Southeastern trains all weekend, with some replacement services to and from other stations in the capital. The link from Cambridge to Stansted airport will close. Across the Pennines, trains will be routed away from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire throughout the long weekend.
Rail passengers in France face severe disruption from Monday 5 May to Sunday 11 May. Both the CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail unions plan strikes in what the unions describe as a semaine noire (“black week”) to protest about SNCF, the national rail operator. The walkouts will hit holiday plans for many French travellers – especially those taking advantage of Thursday 8 May being a public holiday to create a four-day weekend.
Typically during French rail strikes, between one-third and one-half of TGV high-speed trains still run. But, with many trains fully booked already, if yours is cancelled there will be few spare seats. SNCF says passengers booked on trains that are axed will be contacted by email or text “to inform you of the various options”. Even if you are not notified of a cancellation, the train operator advises checking the status of your train before going to the station.
Road
The RAC predicts the worst delays to be on Friday afternoon and evening, as normal commuting and delivery traffic combines with drivers setting off for the long weekend.
A spokesperson said: “The worst of the jams are likely later in the afternoon and into Friday evening. Around London, the M25 clockwise from the South Mimms interchange to Essex could be hit by delays of 40 minutes from 4pm as commuter traffic combines with holiday trips.
“Elsewhere, the M5 southbound is expected to see delays of a similar duration from 7pm between the junction 15 Almondsbury interchange at Bristol and junction 23 for Bridgwater.”
Over the weekend, the motoring organisation says traffic will be worst between 10am and 3pm, except on Monday when 11am-6pm is the peak time.
