People planning an overseas trip may face cancelled or delayed travel arrangements as waiting times balloon out
Australians planning an overseas trip are facing the possibility of cancelled or delayed travel plans as the Australian passport office buckles under post-Covid-restrictions demand.
The “unprecedented” passport processing delays have resulted in people queueing for hours at passport offices and people spending hours calling to check for updates on their documents.
Continue reading...GMB union says passengers should consider not checking bags into hold amid shortages of ground and air staff
Holidaymakers facing long queues at UK airports amid shortages of ground and air staff have been told they should travel with only hand luggage to minimise the disruption.
GMB, one of the unions that represents aviation workers, said passengers should consider taking a small bag and not checking anything into the hold, as the country’s travel hubs battle delays and cancellations amid a surge in half-term demand.
Continue reading...Processing times remain lengthy, despite ministers pledging 700 more staff to deal with backlog
Families are suffering a nailbiting, up-to-the wire wait this weekend as they face the prospect of having to cancel their half-term holiday plans as ongoing Passport Office delays put trips abroad at risk.
The summer half-term break starts on Monday for much of the UK but a backlog of passport applications has caused months of delays, with some people now set to miss their holiday bookings.
Continue reading...EasyJet cancelled 14 flights, while ferry passengers at Dover face queues, and jams await drivers
Half-term holidaymakers are navigating the busiest day at British airports since the start of the pandemic with some hit by further flight cancellations, while cross-Channel ferry passengers face long queues at Dover and drivers are warned to expect jams.
EasyJet cancelled 14 more flights at London Gatwick in the early morning peak, in the aftermath of IT problems on Thursday that took out 200 of its flights around Europe.
Continue reading...Airline forced to scrap 200 flights due for early afternoon takeoff and delay many others as a result
Airline passengers faced fresh disruption on Thursday after an IT glitch forced easyJet to cancel about 200 flights around Europe.
The airline scrapped a stream of flights due to take off between 1pm and 3pm, affecting dozens to and from UK airports, including its biggest base at Gatwick.
Continue reading...Losses halve as travel bounces back from pandemic with reservations reaching 85% of summer 2019 level
The travel company Tui Group more than halved its losses over the past six months and is predicting a “strong travel summer” as customers continue to book long-awaited holidays despite cost of living pressures.
Europe’s largest holiday company said future bookings remained “unabatedly high” as international travel bounced back from the coronavirus pandemic, but said there would not be many last-minute deals because it was facing rising costs.
Continue reading...The 2022 scheme is more limited – and expensive – than the original but is billed as a big step in reopening the backpacker market
The so-called ten pound Pom scheme has been reborn as a tourism campaign to bring British backpackers back to Australia in the wake of the pandemic.
After the second world war, the Australian government lured hundreds of thousands of Britons over the seas with a £10 ticket to boost the population and supply post-war industries with workers.
Continue reading...Qantas apologises as passengers told they could be without bags for days
Travellers visiting friends and family for the Easter long weekend could be left without their luggage for days as airlines and airports continue to struggle with staff shortages.
The busy holiday travel period combined with Covid isolation orders and a workforce cut and outsourced during the pandemic has resulted in chaotic scenes at airports across Australia, and many passengers arriving at their destinations without their luggage.
Continue reading...High rates of staff absences due to Covid and fallout from P&O Ferries scandal contribute to disruption over busy spring break
Holidaymakers looking to get away for Easter are facing major disruption to travel, as airlines cancel more than 100 flights a day because of staff shortages and ferry operators struggle to meet demand following the suspension of P&O Ferries services.
The rise in passenger numbers over the spring break has coincided with high rates of staff absences due to the latest wave of Covid infections.
Continue reading...Staff shortages, delays and rising prices are playing havoc with the healthcare, education, farming, hospitality and travel sectors
Although the UK no longer faces the threat of lockdowns or intensive care units being imminently overrun, coronavirus is still disrupting much of society and the economy.
As Britain learns to live with Covid, the virus is still playing havoc with our daily lives, and these difficulties have been compounded by post-Brexit chaos in some in sectors.
Continue reading...Qantas apologises to family who missed international trip because of domestic flight delays
Long queues at Sydney airport’s domestic terminals have continued for a third day, with some passengers missing international connections, as the airport warns delays resulting from a surge in travellers and a shortfall in security staff could continue for weeks.
Chaotic scenes were reported in the departure halls as early as 4.30am on Saturday, with some frustrated travellers, many of whom heeded the pleas of airport chiefs to arrive at least two hours before their domestic flight was due to take off, claiming only one security line was operating.
Continue reading...Some passengers stranded amid travel chaos at some of UK’s biggest airports
EasyJet cancelled more than 200 flights over the weekend with disruption expected to last into this week, leaving some passengers stranded amid travel chaos at some of Britain’s biggest airports.
The airline blamed the problems on high levels of sickness among employees caused by Covid, with at least 222 trips axed since Friday.
Continue reading...Labour and unions demand immediate action including suspending licences of parent company DP World
Unions and the Labour party have demanded immediate action over the sacking of 800 British crew by P&O Ferries, including suspending the licences of its parent company, DP World, as it emerged the government was made aware of the move the previous night.
Amid public calls for a boycott of P&O and protests at ports, unions demanded the government urge the firm to reverse its decision, and curb DP World’s involvement in planned freeports.
Continue reading...Remaining rules including mandatory passenger locator forms and tests for unvaccinated arrivals will end on Friday
All remaining Covid travel restrictions are to be dropped across the UK from later this week, despite a concerning rise in cases and hospitalisations.
Ministers approved the scrapping of passenger locator forms and the requirement for all unvaccinated arrivals to get tested, with the changes to come into force from 4am on Friday.
Continue reading...Qantas chief says airlines have no choice but to increase prices and believes travel will be impacted
Travellers are facing steep air fare hikes as bans on Russian oil cause jet fuel prices to surge, Australian aviation experts warn.
Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, has said the average fare would increase by 7% as a result of the increased crude oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but others predict the price rises could be higher.
Continue reading...To mark International Women’s Day on Tuesday, these great women offer inspiration on how to power up your own adventures
Rhiane launched the non-profit organisation Black Girls Hike in Bolton in 2019 to create a safe space for Black women to explore the outdoors and connect with nature. It’s now a nationwide organisation hosting hikes, training events and activity weekends, and she won a positive role model award for gender at the National Diversity Awards in 2021.
Continue reading...Wanderlust may be surging once more – but will travel really help us find what we’re looking for?
In 2019, the United Nations World Tourism Organization reported that international travel had increased to a record 1.4 billion tourist arrivals. It predicted a 3% to 4% annual increase in coming years. That didn’t happen, of course. At the end of 2021, international tourist arrivals were 72% below pre-pandemic levels with 1 billion fewer arrivals than two years earlier.
This is despite airlines’ ingenuity. During Australian lockdown, Qantas organised flights to nowhere: one left Sydney for a fly-by tour of Byron Bay and the Gold Coast, the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru; another in May last year took passengers to 43,000ft to see the blood-red supermoon.
Continue reading...Steven Fuller has been the ‘winterkeeper’ at Yellowstone for 49 years. In that time, he has captured the breathtaking natural phenomena and the wildlife that exist there through all the seasons
Continue reading...Abandoned hamlet’s last remaining resident is now its unofficial guide. Our writer joins him for a tour
Giuseppe Spagnuolo wakes up at about 6am each day, eats the leftovers of the previous night’s dinner for breakfast, greets the stray cats he calls his “security guards” and clambers down the steps of his crumbling home to splash his face with water from the fountain in the square. Occasionally, he walks up to the next village, if his “aches and pains” allow, for coffee in the bar.
For 25 years, Spagnuolo has been the only inhabitant in Roscigno Vecchia, a long-abandoned hamlet 400m up a mountain in the Cilento area of Italy’s southern Campania region. “If you’ve experienced the school of life like I have, then you can easily live this way,” the 74-year-old said, sitting in front of the fire in his kitchen, which is cluttered with pots, pans, bottles of wine, tinned tomatoes, cheese and hanging salamis.
Continue reading...Nearly two years after the first lockdown was implemented, legal restrictions related to coronavirus are finally being lifted. Here we chart what has changed in people’s lives
It’s nearly two years since the prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced the first national Covid lockdown and, for many Britons, life feels close to normal.
As of Thursday, there are no longer any restrictions in England – no legal requirement to wear masks or to self-isolate after a positive Covid test. But have our lives changed in other ways that will outlive the pandemic? Have our habits changed for good?
Continue reading...