EasyJet has been forced to cancel more than 200 flights over the next 10 days because of airport delays and other restrictions, causing major travel disruption during the busy school holiday period.
The budget airline has experienced a succession of problems following the removal of Covid-19 restrictions and the resulting increase in passenger numbers, with IT problems experienced by the company compounding the industry-wide issue of slow recruitment to replace jobs slashed during the pandemic.
Airports have been struggling to replace staff laid off due to Covid, and passengers have been experiencing severe delays in passing the required security checks.
EasyJet was recently forced to remove six seats from some A319 aircraft in order to reduce the crew size needed and enable it to keep more flights running. Despite this move the firm has been forced to announce cancellations, apologizing to customers for the short notice given.
“We are very sorry for the late notice of some of these cancellations and inconvenience caused for customers booked on these flights however we believe this is necessary to provide reliable services over this busy period,” the company said in a statement.
“Customers are being informed from today and provided with the option to rebook their flight or receive a refund and can apply for compensation in line with regulations.”