EASYJET has warned that it will be cancelling even more flights this summer.
The airline cited both staff shortages and flight caps at airports.
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EasyJet has already cancelled 600 flights this month, along with all flights to Hurghada in Egypt.
And with Gatwick reducing their daily flights, affecting 4,000 routes.
EasyJet has said this will also affect their operations with dozens of flights being cancelled pro-actively across July and August.
The airline said they expect to be running at just 87 per cent of their 2019 levels, hoping to rise to 90 per cent by the end of September.
EasyJet said: “In response to these caps and in order to build additional resilience, easyJet is proactively consolidating a number of flights across affected airports.”
Chief executive Johan Lundgren added: “Coupled with airport caps, we are taking pre-emptive actions to increase resilience over the balance of summer, including a range of further flight consolidations in the affected airports, giving advance notice to customers, and we expect the vast majority to be rebooked on alternative flights within 24 hours.”
The travel industry has suffered from thousands of cancellations in recent months, due to staff shortages and a slow recruitment process after many were fired during the pandemic.
Families have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket, forced to sleep on airport floors and stuck in huge airport queues in recent weeks due to the current problems.
And it’s not just easyJet being affected – TUI has been forced to cancel more than 180 flights in June, affecting around six flights a day.
British Airways cancelled thousands of flights in advance between March and October to prevent short-notice cancellations.
Brits heading to Spain and Portugal are being warned they will be hit the hardest by Gatwick’s recent cancellations.
Paul Charles, chief executive of the travel consultancy PC Agency, told The Telegraph: “It’s inevitable flights to Spain will be the worst hit.
“It’s very frustrating for consumers. The pressure is now on Gatwick and the airlines to cancel these flights urgently because airlines will be wanting to reduce the compensation.”
He believes Portugal and flights to the South of France, namely Nice and Marseille are also high-risk.
A statement made by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Department For Transport (DfT) has urged airlines to cancel even more flights in advance, to avoid short-notice cancellations.
But in even more holiday choas, travellers could also be affected by Ryanair strikes which are expected to go ahead across Europe.
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