Easyjet fuels fears of summer travel chaos with 1,300 cancellations

06 July 2018 08:22

Passengers face delays at UK airports this summer

Passengers face delays at UK airports this summer

Easyjet has added to worries that travellers are set for a summer of chaos, revealing that nearly 1,300 flights were cancelled last month.

The budget operator cancelled 1,263 flights in June, a continuation of travel misery for passengers after 974 of the airline's flights were cancelled in May.

The carrier blamed most of the cancellations (around 900) on strike action in Italy and France, while a further 150 were caused by air traffic control restrictions and poor weather.

The news comes just days after rival operator Ryanair revealed similar levels of disruption.

Travel woe

The figures lay bare the travel problems facing passengers heading into the key summer holiday travel season, as industrial action continues to wreak havoc.

Ryanair and British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG) have recently joined forces to prepare a legal complaint to the European Commission over the crippling ATC strikes.

They will argue that EU law is being infringed by not adequately protecting flights over France as they claim the commission's failure to tackle the issue is breaching freedom of movement for Europeans.

Air traffic control strikes are costly for airlines and hugely disruptive for passengers, especially in France, as many UK flights need to use the country's air space or fly longer routes to avoid it.

Regular headache

But ATC action has become a regular headache for the industry in recent years, with 2017 said to be a record for strikes, with 41 days affected.

Despite the cancellations, easyJet saw the number of passengers flown rise 2.3% to 7.9 million in June and its load factor - a measure of how well airlines fill their planes - improved from 94.8% to 95.4%.

If you're heading off on holiday this summer and are worrying about how strike action might affect you, make sure you have travel cover that gives you peace of mind by checking out our insurance options.

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