Summer holidays at risk as British Airways cancels hundreds more flights

British Airways has cancelled hundreds of flights to popular holiday destinations (Photo: Shutterstock)British Airways has cancelled hundreds of flights to popular holiday destinations (Photo: Shutterstock)
British Airways has cancelled hundreds of flights to popular holiday destinations (Photo: Shutterstock)

Summer holidays have been put at risk as British Airways has cancelled hundreds of flights to popular destinations.

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UK flights to the US and the Middle East throughout the summer are among the cancellations, which come as the airline struggles with staff shortages.

What flights have been cancelled?

British Airways has cancelled half of its flights from London Heathrow to Miami, with flights cut from two per day to one from 4 June until at least September.

The airline said the cancelled daily flight to and from Miami would be picked up by American Airlines.

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Hong Kong has been removed from the flight list due to ongoing entry restrictions caused by the Covid pandemic, and flights from London to Tokyo have been suspended for the rest of the summer 2022 season. There will be no flights to these destinations until September and October respectively.

Other popular routes affected include flights from London to Berlin, Dublin and Paris.

It is not yet clear how many other British Airways flights may be axed over the summer.

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In response to a huge number of complaints, British Airways' CEO Sean Doyle has emailed customers to apologise for the cancellations and long delays, The Mail reports.

The email said: “We’ll do everything we can to get you where you need to be.”

The move comes after the airline cancelled more than 100 flights this week, with the disruption being blamed on staff shortages due to Covid or a reduction in schedules.

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Flights to Miami have been cut from two per day to one from 4 June until September (Photo: Getty Images)Flights to Miami have been cut from two per day to one from 4 June until September (Photo: Getty Images)
Flights to Miami have been cut from two per day to one from 4 June until September (Photo: Getty Images)

How long could travel disruption last?

Industry experts have warned that the travel chaos could take months to resolve due to staff shortages.

Around 300 flights were cancelled over the Easter weekend by British Airways alone, and the airline has axed more than 1,000 flights over the past three weeks.

Passengers travelling through major UK airports have been urged to arrive up to four hours before their flight is due to depart because of the disruption.

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Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, previously said of the issues affecting the flight industry: "This is a staggering level of flight cancellations caused by a cocktail of not having enough staff in place and Covid-induced staff shortages.

“Airlines are certainly seeing a high level of demand to fly, but are simply unable to cope with that demand due to a lack of resources.

“It’s a nightmare situation for airlines and airports at the moment."

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