Tui to cancel 180 flights from Manchester airport in June due to staff shortages

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, May 31st, 2022

The half-term break has seen cancelled flights, long queues and staff shortages at many UK airports which has disrupted travel plans for thousands of holidaymakers.

Holiday company Tui has now said it is cancelling more than 180 flights from Manchester airport until the end of next month due to staff shortages.

Tui, the UK’s biggest holiday company, had already announced some flight cancellations and delays at the weekend due to “ongoing disruption in our operation at Manchester.”

Earlier today it made the “incredibly difficult decision” to cancel 43 flights a week for the rest of the month.

A Tui spokesperson said: “Due to the amount of on-going disruption in our operation at Manchester Airport, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to cancel six flights a day (43 flights a week), from Tuesday 31May until Thursday 30 June.

“All other airports in the UK are planned to operate as normal.

“We understand how disappointing this this will be for those impacted; however, we believe this is necessary to provide stability and a better customer service at Manchester airport.

“We will continue to work closely with all our airport partners and suppliers so we can provide the best possible holiday experience for our customers.

“Customers affected by the flight cancellations will receive a full refund for their holiday, as well as an extra gesture of goodwill. Customers impacted in the next 14 days will also receive information on how to apply for compensation in line with regulations.

“We would like to reassure our customers than cancellations of this nature are extremely rare and would like to thank them for their patience and understanding.”

A Manchester Airport spokesman said: Over the last few days TUI and its appointed ground handler, Swissport, have experienced significant challenges with their check-in and baggage reclaim operations at Manchester Airport.

“From extensive discussions with the TUI and Swissport management teams, it is clear that they are experiencing temporary staff shortages, in common with other aviation and travel companies.”

“Given these challenges, we understand TUI’s difficult decision to cancel a number of services over the course of the next month, although we are obviously disappointed to see passengers’ plans disrupted in this way.”

“We will continue to work with TUI, Swissport and other partners to give passengers the best possible service as the travel sector builds back to full strength after the pandemic.”

“In the meantime, we continue to advise passengers to arrive three hours before their flight and to be as prepared as they can be for their journey through the airport.”