Easter holidaymakers warned to avoid M20 and A20 due to lorry queue

The Easter travel weekend from hell is here! Huge queues at airports – where bosses failed to hire enough staff after Covid pandemic – as holidaymakers are told to arrive THREE hours early, the M20 is gridlocked and 90-minute delays at Dover

• Air passengers at Manchester Airport again face huge queues amid cancellations due to staff shortages
• Non-freight traffic is being advised to use the A20, while freight traffic at J8 has been sent into holding areas
• P&O said no Dover to Calais services would run until next week as it continues to try to get the route running 
• Caught up in travel chaos today? Tell us about your experiences by emailing: [email protected] 

Holidaymakers hoping to get away for Easter face long delays for ferries and severe disruption at UK airports during the busiest weekend for travel since the pandemic began.

Manchester Airport urged passengers to arrive three hours before departure to avoid missing their flights as staff shortages have led to the build up of lengthy queues.

After cutting thousands of jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, the aviation industry in general is suffering from difficulties recruiting staff and waiting for security checks to be passed on new employees.

There has also been a recent rise in coronavirus-related staff sickness.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh urged ministers to prioritise staff at Manchester and other major airports for Home Office security checks so they can start work as soon as possible.

Ms Haigh MP said: ‘Brits are facing a week of travel disruption, and this Conservative Government are missing in action.

‘Tory ministers need to step-up and act to ease the disruption. The Government need to begin clearing the huge backlogs in security checks so airport staff can safely begin work.’

Drivers have also been urged to avoid the M20, the A20 and the A2 as a result of a 23-mile lorry queue, including more than 2,000 lorries, caused by Operation Brock. 

Non-freight traffic is being advised to use the A20 instead of the M20, while freight traffic coming off J8 of the M20 has been sent into holding areas to await clearance before heading to the Channel Crossings.  

P&O said no Dover to Calais services would run until next week at the earliest as it continues to try to get the route running again after sacking nearly 800 seafarers without notice.  

Manchester Airport has also urged passengers to arrive three hours before departure to avoid missing their flights as staff shortages have led to the build up of lengthy queues (pictured: Manchester Airport departures)

Drivers have also been been urged to avoid the M20, the A20 and the A2 as a result of a 23-mile lorry queue, including more than 2,000 lorries, caused by Operation Brock

After cutting thousands of jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, the aviation industry in general is suffering from difficulties recruiting staff and waiting for security checks to be passed on new employees (pictured: lines begin to grow at Manchester Airport in the morning)

Queues continue at Manchester Airport departure check in today despite pleas from bosses to arrive three hours before departure time

The firm’s Larne to Cairnryan route also remains suspended, although Hull to Rotterdam is back on a reduced schedule. Liverpool to Dublin is operating fully again.

With up to 70 sailings a day still reportedly affected, roads in Kent have seen long tailbacks as lorries queue to get into the port of Dover.  

A statement from Kent Highways read: ‘The M20 Coast bound from J8-J11 remains closed following the implementation of Brock Zero due to continuing high volumes freight heading to the Port of Dover and Euro Tunnel arriving in Kent.

‘All vehicles and Freight which is not crossing the channel will be diverted onto the A20 and should follow the hollow circle diversion symbol and other signs and re-join the M20 at J11.

‘Hard closures are being put in place by Kent Police and National Highways on all Coastbound slips which join the M20 between J8 and J11. 

Ms Haigh also called on ministers to open emergency talks with ferry operators and Eurotunnel to increase capacity following the suspension of services by P&O Ferries after it controversially sacked 800 seafarers. 

‘They (ministers) need to look urgently at what powers they can use to force P&O Ferries to re-employ trained and experienced staff on their original terms to get the routes up and running,’ Ms Haigh said.

It comes on the UK’s busiest weekend of travel since the pandemic began in March 2020, with families leaving and returning at the same time as they make the most of being able to travel abroad without Covid-19 restrictions. 

A very busy terminal 2 at Londons Heathrow Airport as people head off for Easter holidays

There has also been a recent rise in coronavirus-related staff sickness (pictured: Manchester Airport)

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh urged ministers to prioritise staff at Manchester (pictured) and other major airports for Home Office security checks so they can start work as soon as possible

Ms Haigh MP said: ‘Brits are facing a week of travel disruption, and this Conservative Government are missing in action’ (pictured: queues at Heathrow Airport)

‘Tory ministers need to step-up and act to ease the disruption. The Government need to begin clearing the huge backlogs in security checks so airport staff can safely begin work’ (pictured: air passengers queue at London Heathrow Airport)

Non-freight traffic is being advised to use the A20 instead of the M20, while freight traffic coming off J8 of the M20 has been sent into holding areas to await clearance before heading to the Channel Crossings

A statement from Kent Highways read: ‘The M20 Coast bound from J8-J11 remains closed following the implementation of Brock Zero due to continuing high volumes freight heading to the Port of Dover and Euro Tunnel arriving in Kent’

Last week, more than 1,100 flights to and from the UK were cancelled, mostly by British Airways and easyJet partly due to staff shortages. Yesterday, BA axed 74 flights and easyJet cut 52, affecting 15,000 passengers.

Queues were so large at Manchester that some travellers missed flights.

Passengers reported that it was taking several hours to check in, get through security and collect luggage.

There have also been bottlenecks at Heathrow and Birmingham airports in recent days.

Yesterday, the boss of Manchester Airport’s owner admitted the airport does not have enough staff.

Charlie Cornish, chief executive of Manchester Airports Group, wrote: ‘The simple fact is that we don’t currently have the number of staff we need to provide the level of service that our passengers deserve.

‘Despite our efforts since last autumn, the tight labour market around the airport has meant we have just not been able to hire people quickly enough to establish a full-strength team.

‘Practically, staff shortages mean that we cannot open all the security lanes we need and, at times, this results in longer queues than we want to see.

‘While we still expect most passengers to get through in less than 30 to 40 minutes, there will be times over the next few months when waiting times will rise to between 60 and 90 minutes.’

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