Flight chaos in Europe: – Been far from good

So far it has been a busy summer for the airlines and the many airports in Europe, after two years of strict travel restrictions.

The pandemic had major consequences for the travel industry, and afterwards several airports have struggled with understaffing. This has led to states of chaos in several places.

Among the airports that have felt the massive pressure this summer, we find the hubs Heathrow and Gatwick, which are among Europe’s busiest.

Desperate

At Heathrow, they have introduced a customer ceiling of 10,000 passengers a day, as a result of low capacity.

London Southend Airport, on the other hand, is desperate for business, according to Sky Newsand now offers to host flights canceled by the major airports.

The director of the airport, Glyn Jones, is said to have contacted various airlines and offered his help.

He told Sky News that next summer must be better.

– The last few months have been far from good, he says.

Avisa writes that the airport only has one or two departures a day and that the number of passengers is down 95 percent compared to before corona.

Struggling after the pandemic

Only one airline now uses the airport on the outskirts of Essex, as airlines pulled out during lockdown to add their routes to larger airports. Only EasyJet remains, which only flies four routes.

The reason for understaffing in many places is that the industry is struggling to step up again and recruit employees who were made redundant or lost their jobs during the pandemic.

Many airlines have also had employees on strike. Among other things, around 700 British Airways employees at Heathrow have been on strike since June, most of them female check-in workers.

The reason for the strike was a ten percent pay cut, which was worked out during the pandemic.

Now, however, the strike has been called off, after the staff accepted an offer of an eight percent pay rise, according to BBC.

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