Tui cancels quarter of flights from Manchester Airport

The holiday operator Tui is cancelling a quarter of its flights from Manchester Airport as half-term travel chaos mounts.

The Telegraph has learnt that bosses at Tui took the decision to cut 43 flights a week in June following chaotic scenes at airports over the weekend.

Manchester Airport is one of Tui’s biggest bases in the UK. Tui flights carry around 200 passengers each, meaning as many as 37,000 holidaymakers will be affected in June.

Hours-long queues were once again snaking out of terminal buildings this morning at Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Gatwick as industry bosses grapple with chronic staff shortages.

Chiefs at Manchester, already bruised from being blamed for disruption during the Easter break, are understood to be fuming that the chaos has reared itself once again and blamed Tui for the disruption.

A spokesman for Tui confirmed that it had taken the “incredibly difficult decision” to cancel 43 flights a week for the rest of June at Manchester, understood to be roughly a quarter of its services from one of Britain’s biggest airports.

“We would like to apologise to our customers who have experienced flight delays and cancellations in recent days and understand that many of our customers have been looking forward to their holiday with us for a long time,” the spokesman added.

The cancellations came as ministers attacked airline and airport bosses for failing to prepare for a busy summer season, which follows two years of disruption as a result of Covid restrictions.

A Government source told The Times: “The sudden cancellations of flights and airport delays are completely unacceptable.

“The simple fact is that airlines and airports overcut staff during the pandemic, ignoring the fact that the billions of pounds of aid – including furlough – handed out by the Government was meant to protect those very jobs.

“Operators are now struggling to meet increasingly busy schedules as we move towards the first Covid-free summer since 2019 – a wholly foreseeable surge in bookings that should have been adequately prepared for.

“The responsibility for maintaining adequate staffing levels lies with the airlines and airports themselves. Not only are they causing huge frustration to their customers, they are missing out on the benefits of the strong recovery in foreign travel.”

A spokesman for Tui said: “All other airports in the UK are planned to operate as normal.

“We understand how disappointing this will be for those impacted; however, we believe this is necessary to provide stability and better customer service at Manchester Airport. We will continue to work closely with all our airport partners and suppliers so we can provide the best possible holiday experience for our customers.

“Customers affected by the flight cancellations will receive a full refund for their holiday, as well as an extra gesture of goodwill. Customers impacted in the next 14 days will also receive information on how to apply for compensation in line with regulations.
 
“We would like to reassure our customers that cancellations of this nature are extremely rare and would like to thank them for their patience and understanding.” 

A spokesman for Manchester Airport said: “Over the last few days Tui and its appointed ground handler, Swissport, have experienced significant challenges with their check-in and baggage reclaim operations at Manchester Airport. 

“From extensive discussions with the Tui and Swissport management teams, it is clear that they are experiencing temporary staff shortages, in common with other aviation and travel companies.

“Given these challenges, we understand Tui’s difficult decision to cancel a number of services over the course of the next month, although we are obviously disappointed to see passengers’ plans disrupted in this way.  

“We will continue to work with Tui, Swissport and other partners to give passengers the best possible service as the travel sector builds back to full strength after the pandemic.

“In the meantime, we continue to advise passengers to arrive three hours before their flight and to be as prepared as they can be for their journey through the airport.”