EXCLUSIVEHow rain in Britain could RUIN your summer holiday... abroad: Experts warn of more flight chaos over summer as unpredictable weather patterns ground flights and leave 10,000 passengers stranded
Britons should brace themselves for having their family getaway abroad ruined this summer with bad weather set to continue to disrupt flights throughout the busy holiday season.
Aviation industry expert Julian Bray issued an ominous warning for Brits to expect to face more turmoil with the weather in Britain 'upside down at the moment' and Hurricane Beryl in America wreaking havoc on aircraft routes.
He foresees further issues and backups to flights with delayed planes missing tight 30 second slots to land and take off at airports among the problems that can create a 'domino effect' of chaos in the sky.
'The weather is a big problem at the moment, and it is likely to remain a problem for the rest of this summer because of the weather patterns,' he told MailOnline.
Last night, fed-up passengers had to sleep on uncomfortable plastic chairs at Heathrow after torrential rain and storms across the Atlantic grounded dozens of flights.
Airline bosses have already warned British tourists they could face travel chaos in the EU because dozens of airports are not ready for post-Brexit fingerprint rules.
While a toxic mix of staffing issues, poor backup systems and outdated technology has left airports across Britain at risk of complete meltdown with one glitch potentially ending in chaos for passengers, industry experts have warned.
Stranded passengers hunker down for the night at Heathrow last night after dozens of flights were cancelled after storms across the Atlantic cancelled dozens of flights
Holidaymakers were spotted surrounded by their luggage and trolleys as they settled down for the night at Heathrow yesterday
The check-in area at Heathrow's Terminal 5 yesterday evening was deserted after the desks closed for the night
Hurricane Beryl is currently leaving a path of destruction in Texas as it causes tornadoes to sweep through towns and power outages to more than 1.3million homes.
Mr Bray blamed that and 'the whole weather system' for blighting aircraft routes.
'The weather is completely upside down at the moment, and the reason that some airlines are affected and other airlines are not affected is quite simply that not all planes do the same route,' he said
'Some planes come in on one route, then they get put onto another flight, then another flight, and it's like a row of dominoes.
'If one of the dominoes falls over, then all the other dominoes fall over, and that causes all the delays and the backups.'
Airlines are also struggling to meet a surge in demand for flights since the Covid restrictions were lifted in what are already packed skies.
'The types of aircraft being flown change, because lately we've gone to narrow-bodied aircraft,' he said. 'Now they're actually bringing back the big, wide-bodied aircraft which have been lying parked up in Death Valley or at a boneyard in storage for three or four years.
'Some airlines are bringing those back because of the demand in travel which was released after Covid.
'Everybody said, "look, we've got to get away". So they started booking holidays and trips, and we're now reaping the benefit of that, if you like.
'So everybody wants to get away. But everybody wants to get away at the same time. If people chose unpopular times to fly like midweek they'd probably find it was easier.'
Delays at e-gates, invalid passports, and airlines not being able to make aircraft quick enough were also cited by Mr Bray as a potential spanner in the works.
There are 'big problems with Spain at the moment, because they've introduced extra controls in the Balearics, Majorca and other places' he said.
'Palma Airport's the worst as British passport holders cannot get through there quickly,' he said.
Hurricane Beryl has cut a deadly and devastating path through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean, leaving at least 11 people dead and flattening entire islands before striking Texas
Holidaymakers stuck in Terminal 5 at Heathrow last night after bad weather cancelled flights
Passengers camped out on the hard plastic chairs after the check-in desks closed on Monday
Heathrow's Terminal 5 appeared deserted on Monday night after the check-in desks closed
A passenger inside Terminal 5 at Heathrow on Monday evening following flight cancellations
The check-in desk area appeared deserted following cancellations on Sunday and Monday
A female passengers sites inside Terminal 5 at Heathrow on Monday evening with her luggage
Passengers hunker down on the black plastic chairs inside Terminal 5 last night
Passengers were stranded due to flight delays and cancellations at Heathrow last night
An Aer Lingus plane bounced on the runway as it struggled to land during 73mph winds in January 2024
Planes were grounded at Leeds Bradford airport in Yorkshire in December last year due to bad weather
In New York, flights were grounded at JFK in May this year due to bad weather
This is the dramatic moment the pilot of a packed passenger jet aborts his landing during the storm in June this year that brought chaos to Majorca's Palma Airport
'Everybody else can. If you're in Europe you can. But unfortunately, as we're out of Europe, it takes us a good 35 to 40 minutes to get through, whereas they [people from countries in the EU] are virtually walking through.
'So that is another thing that is holding things up as well. So as you see, it's one great big domino train.'
He described the complex aviation system as like a '400,000 piece jigsaw' that can tumble at any second with it being the norm that flights are cancelled every day.
'So there's a hundred and one things that can go wrong, and this year they are all going wrong, not helped by the weather,' he warned.
Last year, BA cancelled 4,033 flights, or 2.3 per cent of the airline's scheduled take-offs, which was markedly higher than the industry's 1.4 per cent average rate.
The number, reported by The Times, is nearly twofold that of easyJet, according to figures from aviation analytics business Cirium.
Both BA and easyJet are attempting to throw out a High Court case brought against them over claims they must compensate passengers whose flights are severely delayed or cancelled.
They both are arguing the case is 'misconceived', The Telegraph reported.
More than 10,000 holidaymakers were left in terminal limbo on Sunday when British Airways and easyJet axed dozens of flights, blaming it on air traffic control issues and adverse weather conditions.
London's two busiest airports went into a meltdown as easyJet grounded 34 flights at Gatwick on Sunday and nine on Monday.
Meanwhile BA axed another 51 at Heathrow on Sunday and a further 31 on Monday.
Passengers were hit by a double whammy of rail delays after a signalling failure on the Thameslink line Sunday morning hit trains travelling via Gatwick Airport.
While the situation had cleared up at Heathrow by Monday, easyJet were still suffering some delays at Gatwick into the afternoon.
10,000 holidaymakers were left stranded after airlines axed flights in reaction to the weather being 'upside down'. Pictured: Gatwick yesterday afternoon
Passengers took to social media to slam easyJet and British Airways for the travel chaos
EasyJet confirmed 'some flights across Europe were unfortunately disrupted due to the impact of adverse weather and air traffic control delays.'
Furious travellers slammed the airlines on social media and questioned why other carriers flying the 'same route, same day' have not cancelled flights.
EasyJet axed flights from Lanzarote, Budapest and Venice alongside flights to Belfast and Edinburgh.
And BA cancelled round trips to Rome alongside routes to Naples, Barcelona and Cyprus.
Only one flight was cancelled at Manchester and London Stansted - the country's third and fourth largest airports.
One person said on X: '@easyJet Why is the @TUIUK flight, same route, same day, not cancelled then? Baffling how easyJet alone suffers so many of these 'beyond control' cancellations? Could it in fact be pilot/ crew shortage per chance??'
However, easyJet told the traveller that 'many factors come together that can lead to our flights being disrupted it's never just one thing. If it is due to something that is outside our control or pilot/crew shortage we need to state it as such.'
Others revealed how their flights were cancelled as they waited at the gate to board the plane.
Another said: '@easyJet absolutely terrible. Flight from Gatwick to Munich Friday 5th July cancelled after we were all at the gate. After only 1 hour delay told the crew were out of hours, really! We were left stranded. Thanks @premierinn for finding us a room. #easyJet #airline fail'.
A third person, who this time directed their anger at BA, said: '@British_Airways you cancelled my flight with a few hours noticed causing me to miss a job interview and more importantly my brothers birthday.
'You offered me a 10h Stopover flight the next day instead of my original 2hr30 flight to Heathrow. Please respond to my ticket!'
A fourth said: 'To make us sit on a plane for 3 hours to then cancel the flight and give us zero alternatives is an absolute disgrace! Family holiday cancelled, now no doubt I will have to fight tooth and nail for my money back and compensation!'
British Airways blamed the weather for their delays - after a night when two aircraft were struck by lightning. Pictured: A passenger shared this image, which they said was taken from the flight on Sunday afternoon
A map showed the flight's route travelling on a smooth course before suddenly circling and zigzagging away from Heathrow
British Airways blamed the weather for their delays - after a night when two aircraft were struck by lightning.
Both planes had to be taken out of service while the company's staff carry out safety checks.
A spokesperson said: 'Due to air traffic control restrictions and adverse weather, like other airlines we've had to make a small number of alterations to our schedule.
'We know this will be frustrating for our customers and our teams are working hard to get them onto alternative flights as soon as possible, with the vast majority already booked onto services that will fly later today.'
And a spokesperson for easyJet added on Monday: 'easyJet operated around 1800 flights yesterday and is operating a similar number today however some flights yesterday evening and three flights from London Gatwick this morning have unfortunately been disrupted due to the knock-on impact of adverse weather yesterday and air traffic control delays.
'While this is outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused and are providing impacted customers with hotel accommodation and meals as well as a refund or a transfer to an alternative flight.'
While low-budget carrier Ryanair has made no cancellations although it did apologise to customers for some delays due to 'repeated air-traffic control staff shortages'.
It reads: 'Ryanair, Europe's No.1 airline, on Mon 8 Jul apologised to its passengers for the excessive flight delays caused by European ATC staff shortages today Mon 8 Jul which are affecting all European airlines.
'ATC services, which have had the benefit of no French ATC strike disruption this summer, continue to underperform (despite flight volumes being five per cent behind 2019 levels) with repeated 'staff shortages'.
'On Mon 8 Jul, 21 per cent of Ryanair's first wave departures (134 of 579 aircraft) were delayed due to ATC 'staff shortages'. These repeated flight delays due to ATC mismanagement are unacceptable.
'We apologise to our passengers for these repeated ATC flight delays which are deeply regrettable but beyond Ryanair's control.'
British Airways has been contacted for comment.
It marks yet another issue after a summer where families trying to get away for the summer have been hit by delays at airports.
In late June Heathrow was left in chaos after an IT allocation failure in British Airways' systems left passengers stranded on planes and facing hours of delays collecting their luggage.
Furious travellers slammed the airlines on social media and questioned why other carriers flying the 'same route, same day' have not cancelled flights. Pictured: Gatwick yesterday afternoon
The UK's busiest airport revealed passengers travelling from Terminal 5 'may be impacted' by the failure in BA's Allocation systems, adding that no other airline has been affected.
Video from the Terminal showed massive queues of stricken travellers forming across the airport, as passengers struggled to correctly find their luggage.
Footage from inside the transport hub showed enormous queues forming outside BA's baggage claim area in the terminal, as well as the customer assistance desk in the arrivals' area.
Customers unleashed their fury as they shared horror stories about trying to calm children having panic attacks and waiting for hours, with one branding the UK a 'third world country'.
Just days later stranded holidaymakers hit out at 'disgusting' services after Gatwick Airport suspended all their flights.
Passengers faced massive delays, last-minute diversions to other London airports and missed connections after a Boeing 777 British Airways flight had to make an emergency stop on the runway due to 'having hot brakes'.
It sparked chaos for thousands of Brits hoping to kick summer off with a holiday as any flights due to take off or land at the airport were temporarily suspended.
