Holidaymakers using stranded overseas due to flight cancellations

Passengers booked with easyJet, British Airways, Tui Airways and Wizz Air are among those who have seen their plans to return from half-term or bank holiday breaks disrupted.

It comes as the aviation industry is struggling to cope with the rise in demand for travel amid a severe staffing shortage.

Over the weekend, dozens of flights were cancelled with now a further 26 that were due o arrive at or depart from Gatwick by easyjet cancelled on Monday (June 6).

Queues at Gatwick. (PA)

These included destinations such as Bilbao, Madrid and Seville in Spain, Milan and Palermo in Italy, Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland, and Malta.

British Airways axed more than 100 short-haul flights at Heathrow on Monday, although the airline stressed that passengers affected were given advance notice.

Elsewhere, Tui Airways is cancelling its six daily flights at Manchester. 

Some 225 departures from UK airports were cancelled between Monday and Friday last week, according to aviation data firm Cirium.

That compares with 24 during the corresponding half-term week last year.

UK airline passengers have been hit by disruption for several months due to a lack of staff after letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus pandemic.

Airlines, airports and ground handling companies repeatedly called for sector-specific financial support during the Covid-19 crisis as Government travel restrictions suppressed demand.

They are now struggling to recruit new staff and have their security checks processed.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has rejected calls to open the door to more “cheap” overseas workers in a bid to relieve the pressure on the aviation sector.

Asked whether he would temporarily allow more foreign workers into the industry to alleviate staffing pressures, told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme: “The answer can’t always be to reach for the lever marked ‘More immigration’.

“There is not some pull that is going to relieve this.”