British holidaymakers are facing additional problems with road travel as the four-day bank holiday begins, contributing to continued disruptions at airports and some train stations.
More than 19 million drivers are expected to hit the roads during the platinum anniversary weekend, according to a study by AA.
Andy Marchant, a traffic expert at technology company TomTom, warned that drivers can expect “high levels of congestion” as people take to the streets amid celebrations in the 1970s on the Queen’s throne.
London police have warned that the roads in the capital will be closed from Thursday evening to Friday afternoon due to the presence of royalty at the Thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Meanwhile, the anniversary street parties, most of which are expected to take place on Sunday, will close many routes.
The pressure on roads is coming as UK airports struggle to cope with the surge in demand in six months, with tourists affected by long queues and canceled flights.
On Wednesday, British Airways and easyJet canceled more than 150 flights to and from the United Kingdom, while passengers also faced long waits at transport hubs in Europe and the United States.
Long queues, delays and cancellations in some circumstances led to police intervention, with officers summoned to Manchester airport on two different occasions.
Police escorted hundreds of passengers on a Tui flight to Tenerife on Sunday after he remained on the runway for more than three hours.
A day earlier, officials were called in to tell passengers that Tui’s flight to the Greek island of Kos had been canceled, although passengers had waited more than eight hours for the flight.
Cirium figures show that 377 flights from airports in the UK were canceled for the seven days before and including Tuesday.
Eurostar, which also suffered severe delays this week, warned on Thursday morning that customers could expect further disruption following a death on the tracks in northern France.
In a statement on social media, the railway operator wrote: “Please arrive at the station at the time indicated on your ticket. If you miss your further contact, please talk to a member of our staff. We apologize for the impact this may have on your plans. ”
Transport Secretary Grant Shaps met with aviation industry chiefs Wednesday afternoon to discuss travel chaos and held what has been described as a “productive meeting”.
Schaps said in a statement afterwards that the resource congestion in the sector “does not justify poor planning and over-reservation of flights they [airlines] it cannot serve ”. He said he also expressed concern that airline passengers had been unfairly sold tickets for holidays that could not continue.
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Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade said the problem was not “an airline problem, an airport problem or a government problem”, but they all “ultimately need to work together to solve it”.
Attendees include British Airways, easyJet and Tui – all of which have canceled – while the airports represented include Gatwick, Birmingham, Bristol, Luton and Newcastle.
The aviation industry is suffering from a shortage of staff after releasing thousands of people during the Covid pandemic.
Despite the widespread recruitment of airlines and airports, they are struggling to hire enough of the key staff needed for the smooth running of trips abroad, such as luggage staff.
The transport ministry said the government and the aviation industry would form a working group before the summer holidays to “work together on issues of common interest”.
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