BA cancels even more flights as half-term travel carnage escalates
The half-term travel chaos has begun on one of the busiest days on the roads and at the ports and airports in years, with massive queues building up on Friday.
Hundreds of motorists found themselves waiting to get onto ferries at the Port of Dover this morning in what is expected to be a very testing day for the country's transport infrastructure.
Lorries are being forced to queue on the outskirts of the Kent town, in what is now a common scene on busy weekends following the UK's departure from the European Union and the extra checks Brits must undergo before entering the block.
Up to 5,500 cars and 350 coaches are predicted to travel through the cross-channel ferry terminal today.
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Queues formed at the Port early on Friday morning (PA)The port has been under pressure to put measures in place to stop cars and lorries from getting caught up in queues again after a critical incident was declared this Easter.
Frustrated drivers reported missing their ferries despite arriving at the port hours before they were due to depart.
Among their number was Iain Lee, a charity director who is trying to head out to Ukraine to help with the war relief effort, having visited the country every month for the past nine months.
"I picked the wrong day for my next pickup drive to Ukraine Dover backed up to a stand still. Not making the boat at this rate," he tweeted.
Lorries queue for the Port of Dover along the A20 (PA)He told the Mirror the French border police had been quick at processing passengers, but that "seven lanes of cars backed up before border control done the damage."
Another would-be holidaymaker said: "Been sat here waiting for over an hour and already missed my ferry. Surely the Port of Dover should have got it sorted after all this time. Brexit changes were two years ago."
Ella Rudwick added: "Don't bother going across on the ferry. I've been sat waiting over 90 minutes and still haven't moved. Every other lane has moved, but not ours. Missed our ferry."
By the mid-morning long queues of lorries could be seen stretching miles back from the port along the A20. Reports from the ground suggest the system is working better than during previously busy holiday periods.
People decided to stretch their legs during the long waits at Dover (PA)The port says that tourist cars are facing a wait of 90 minutes and coaches one hour, thanks to a new system which sees the latter dealt with away form the main port.
Those brave enough to hit the roads this weekend are also looking at the prospect of lengthy waits as millions rush to make the most of the good weather.
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Long tailbacks formed on the A303 near Stonehenge this morning, while the M25 by Dartford Crossing was clogged by the sheer number of vehicles and a crash on the Essex side just before junction 29.
There have been long tailbacks on the A303 (Jonathan Buckmaster)British Airways passengers travelling through Heathrow Airport today have faced significant difficulties, after an IT failure led the airline to cancel dozens of flights yesterday.
The knock-on impact of crews being out of position is being felt today with more groundings, with around 170 flights expected to be cancelled overall over the two days.
Passenger Luisa Abraham, who was returning to Germany after a trip in the UK, has spoken of her frustration at being left stranded in a hotel at Heathrow last night.
She claimed she was only being alerted by BA that her flight to Berlin had been cancelled just 45 minutes before its departure time.
Queues On The M25 Dartford Tunnel Approach (STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY)“I’m still in Heathrow. I decided to book on a flight with Lufthansa to get to Germany as soon as possible," Luisa told the Telegraph.
“Nobody was helping me, I asked what should I do, and BA only said you can call and they will re-book you.
“I’ve had a look today and the earliest possible flight you can get would be Sunday, I would have been stuck here all weekend. It’s my last flight ever with BA.”
Many said their bags had failed to arrive at their destination with them, including 52 members of the Llanishen High PE Department who flew out to Venice only to arrive bag-less.
Terri Negus claimed her husband and step-son had departed Chicago two hours late yesterday and were still stuck on the tarmac at Heathrow at 2.30pm today, having been "stranded" there without a gate for two hours.
"You have some very unhappy passengers and crew, treated like hostages," she tweeted.
A British Airways spokesperson said: "While the vast majority of our flights continue to operate today, we have cancelled some of our short-haul flights from Heathrow due to the knock-on effect of a technical issue that we experienced yesterday.
"We've apologised to customers whose flights have been affected and offered them the option to rebook to an alternative flight with us or another carrier, or request a refund."
Queues at St Pancras on Friday morning (George Cracknell Wright)The airline added that where possible cancellations have been focused on routes with several daily flights, enabling passengers to rebook at alternative times. Around 16,000 passengers have been affected by the cancellations so far.
A Heathrow spokesperson has said the airport is otherwise operating well amid a strike by Unite security workers over a pay dispute.
A huge queue one passenger claimed was for the customer service desk was record at Heathrow at around 1pm on Friday afternoon.
At Manchester Airport long queues formed at the check-in desk this morning as thousands of holidaymakers look to make the most of the long Bank Holiday weekend.
Huge numbers are expected to flock to the North West travel hub this weekend, after passengers missed their flights out of the country when a power cut plunged the airport into chaos.
Ryanair customers spoke of watching their planes take off without them as they waited in lengthy lines that snaked out of the airport's terminal.
Passengers were also facing long queues at Bristol Airport, which a spokesperson said was "busy" but not more than "entirely expected."
"The airport has been operating well and no cancellations that we know of. No significant delays to report this morning," they told the Mirror.
St Pancras in London - where the majority of Eurostar passengers board trains to head to the Continent - was busy but flowing okay this morning.
Thankfully there has not yet been a repeat of scenes last summer when hundreds of people missed their services as they were stuck in enormous queues that stretched far out of the station building.
Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, has said traffic volumes have been reviewed since the 17-hour Easter delays, and that ferry operators are working with coach companies to smooth the flow of traffic.
Bristol Airport has also seen some queues this morning (LT1Media)He told the BBC: "We created a new processing centre in the western part of the port to better sequence the traffic coming into the port and to the advanced passenger information checks.
Mr Bannister went on to say that "it would be foolish" to guarantee that there will not be more queues at the Port today.
"Because one of the things that we have found is that things happen, right," he said.
"But what I can say is that we have put in place all the measures all the processes installed new facilities, in the best effort to make certain that those queues cannot happen again."
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