Passengers claimed they were left to sleep on the floor after flights were cancelled unexpectedly. Photo / 123rf
British travellers were left to sleep on airport floors and queue for hours in UK airports and flights battle staffing shortages.
Passengers at Heathrow and Gatwick took to Twitter to express outrage at waiting hours to get through the airport.
"Never seen such a long queue for security at @Gatwick_Airport. Good job I've still got a few years on my passport or it would expire before I get through." said one woman said.
Getting there early didn't seem to help passengers.
"@Gatwick_Airport hey, I'm going to miss my flight I was two and a half hours early for, because you've got over a thousand people queuing for security and no staff. Any advice?" wrote one man.
Another shared a photo taken at 3.30 am of huge queues as people waited just to drop their bags off.
Traveller Vicky Murphy wrote: "Absolute disgrace this morning at North terminal baggage drop. Not one member of staff directing a queue of people and now the queue for security is this….. It's a joke!"
Over in Heathrow, passengers faced similar struggles.
Mark Hill shared a photo of a huge queue with the caption: "Chaos and huge queues in terminal 3. No sign of airport staff or border officials."
According to a Gatwick Airport spokesperson, the large queues resulted from issues processing passengers but were less than an hour, reported the Sun.
"EasyJet are having some issues processing passengers in our North Terminal this morning," they told Sun Online Travel.
"We are working with the airline to help get people moving through the airport and on to their flights as fast as we can.
"A queue for airport security has also formed in our North Terminal. The queue is moving however and current wait time is approx 35 minutes."
Even without the airport challenges, passengers were then tripped up by airline woes.
Some travellers claimed they had to sleep in the airport after unexpected flight cancellations with little communication.
One family said their flight was cancelled at Manchester so they travelled by coach to Gatwick for five hours. Once there, they had to sleep on the ground with "no food, drinks or explanation".
After easyJet cancelled several flights in and out of Gatwick Airport, people claimed they had to sleep on the floor.
Yesterday, easyJet cancelled more flights, prompting passengers to voice their frustration.
"Have just cancelled my flight to Belfast from Gatwick half an hour before it was supposed to take off. No information for passengers. Ridiculous," wrote one person.
Peter Kendall wrote: "Furious passengers at Gatwick have flight to Belfast cancelled at the last minute. Now we can't get out of the airport and some passengers faced the same experience yesterday!"
Another said: "Stranded at Gatwick this morning after my flight to Belfast city was cancelled right as the gate was meant to be announced no help apart from being escorted out and told we had to arrange an alternative flight ourselves."
For months, Covid-19 restrictions were seen as the primary obstacle to travel and, as the pandemic continued, many in the industry were made redundant.
However, as countries reopen and people rush to airports, a new challenge has developed; rehiring staff to meet the demand.
Aviation Recruitment Network, a British company that provides recruitment and screening services for the aviation industry, claim normality could be at least a year away.
Managing director Kully Sandhu, said it could take "at least the next 12 months for the industry, vacancy wise, to settle down".
Sandhu said a combination of Covid, staff vacancies and Brexit was to blame.
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