Thousands of Britons stuck at airports as tube strikes add to travel disruption

Half-term holidaymakers and people returning to work face more travel chaos after the jubilee weekend with British travellers stranded abroad due to flight cancellations and commuters facing severe disruptions from a tube strike.

London Underground has advised people not to travel, warning of severe disruption across the network from the start of service on Monday until 8am on Tuesday.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) are taking industrial action in a dispute over jobs and pensions.

Transport for London (TfL) said some train services will run but many stations, especially those in central and south London, will be closed, while others may only open for limited periods.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of British travellers are estimated to be stuck at airports across Europe after up to 200 flight cancellations over the weekend.

Airline easyJet cancelled 80 flights on Sunday “due to the ongoing challenging environment”, while Eurostar passengers faced delays and cancellations because of power supply problems near Paris.

The vast majority of cancellations from Gatwick Airport on Sunday were easyJet flights, but British Airways, Wizz Air and Vueling are also understood to have been affected.

The aviation industry is suffering from staff shortages after letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus pandemic.

Airlines are now struggling to recruit new workers and have their security checks processed, which they say are being delayed by government red tape.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps claimed travel firms have “seriously oversold flights and holidays relative to their capacity to deliver” despite government warnings.

He has said he will “do absolutely everything possible to make sure” holidaymakers are able to get away without issues during the summer.

Following a meeting with airports, airlines and ground handling companies last week, the Cabinet minister said he had answered industry demands to speed up security checks for workers and allow some staff in non-security related jobs to take up training immediately.

But he said it is up to the sector to fix the issues, accusing bosses of “cutting too far”, despite receiving £8bn of state support and having access to furlough money to keep staff on the books while COVID travel restrictions were in place.

He said: “Clearly, they have been taken by surprise by the way people have returned to travel after two years of being locked down, but I’m not surprised – we were saying all along: You will need to be ready for this.”