Airports across Europe have struggled to cope with a post-pandemic travel rebound in need but British airports have been particularly hit by major disruption over the past week
British transport minister Grant Shapps said
British transport minister Grant Shapps told on Sunday the government would work hard with the aviation industry to avoid a repeat of the chaos at airports last week as passengers faced lengthy delays and revocations of hundreds of flights.
Europe has struggled to cope with a post-pandemic rebound
Airports across Europe have struggled to cope with a post-pandemic rebound in need, but British airports have been particularly hit by major disruption over the past week. Schools were on a half-term break and the country also had a long public holiday weekend to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne.
Shapps, who told earlier this week airlines should stop selling tickets for flights they could not staff, told the industry had to sort out the issue.
“The industry itself must solve it,” he told reporters. “The government doesn’t run airports, it doesn’t run the airlines. The industry must do that.”
Airlines had hoped for a bumper summer for passengers after two years of COVID-19 travel restrictions. But they have struggled to recruit staff after the turmoil of the pandemic, and complain it is taking longer to recruit new employees and vet them for security clearance.
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Shapps said staff cuts during the pandemic had gone too deep. “We’ll operate with the industry very hard … to make sure we don’t see a repeat of those scenes,” he told.
A change in the law was making it easier to deal with the administration needed for security clearance, he said, adding he did not envisage a need for the army to be called in to support speed up the security checks.
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