The European airports and airlines facing disruption this summer

James Morris
LISBON, PORTUGAL - JULY 09: Travelers crowd Terminal 1 departures hall while queueing at Lufthansa-Swiss check-in counters in Humberto Delgado International Airport on July 09, 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal. The city's airport has returned to normal after the forced inactivity due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, and large numbers of travelers meant delays and recriminations from the government to SEF and ANA, in charge of handling departing and arriving passengers. INE attributes to the strong recovery dynamics in tourism an important part of the country's economic growth. Compared to the first quarter of 2021 -when Portugal was practically paralyzed by the pandemic-, domestic demand increased by 9.8%, exports by 18.3%, and imports by 13.1%. Portugal's economy grew 2.6% in the first quarter compared to the last one of 2021 -and 11.9% compared to the same period of the previous year-, thanks to the end of COVID-19 Coronavirus restrictions and a strong growth in private consumption. (Photo by Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Europe, like the UK, has seen flight disruption this summer. (Getty Images) (Horacio Villalobos via Getty Images)

UK airlines and airports have cancelled thousands of flights in the past few months amid continued recruitment difficulties following coronavirus redundancies.

On Tuesday, Heathrow Airport introduced a 100,000-a-day passenger departure limit lasting until 11 September.

But this kind of disruption isn’t just happening in the UK.

Strikes and staff shortages are also forcing European airlines to cancel thousands of flights, causing hours-long queues at major airports.

According to AirJournal, there have already been 16,000 cancellations in August that were prevantable.

Here are some of those facing disruption this summer that UK tourists should be aware of…

Ryanair

Spain-based cabin crew plan to strike for 12 more days in July. Ryanair said it expected "minimal" disruption.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed this week that Belgian pilots from the CNE union would join the strike planned by their French counterparts on 23 and 24 July.

easyJet

Spain-based cabin crew at easyJet plan to go on strike for nine days in July, demanding a 40% increase in their basic salary which the USO union said is much lower than in countries such as France and Germany.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)

SAS is in talks to try and end a pilot strike. The airline has said the strike is threatening its future. Some 177 SAS flights were cancelled on Friday.

Transavia

The low-cost Dutch airline has seen cabin crew strike action since Wednesday. It is running 70% of its French flights on Friday and Saturday and 75% on Sunday.

Lufthansa

There is potential for strike action impacting the German airline after a union representing its ground staff demanded an extra 350 euros a month for workers amid soaring inflation.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa said it would cancel 2,000 more flights from Frankfurt and Munich this summer, citing staffing shortages at airports.

Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports, Paris

The airports still need to fill 4,000 jobs, including in security and maintenance, following 20,000 pandemic layoffs.

Frankfurt Airport

Germany's busiest hub will continue to see disruption due to a lack of workers in the next two or three months, its operator Fraport has said.

Turkish Airlines

According to aviation analysts Cirium, Turkish Airlines has already cancelled 4,400 flights in the last week. Cirium also report Wizz Air as having cancelled 1,200 flights.

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