Destinations knownAirport chaos as surge in flight bookings catches travel trade on the hop, with long queues and cancellations
- They can’t say they weren’t warned, but travel trade operators across the developed world have been caught out by the pent-up demand for holiday flights
- Travellers face flight cancellations, often at the last minute, and huge queues at airports. Strikes by airport staff add to the misery, and no end is in sight
As tumbleweed continues to blow through the halls at Hong Kong International Airport, others elsewhere in the world – particularly Europe – are becoming hotbeds of seething rage as the airline industry creaks back to life after the Covid-19 shutdowns.
“A travel boom is looming. But is the industry ready?” asked the headline of a July 2021 report by management consultants McKinsey & Company. “If the industry doesn’t work to increase capacity now, the ecosystem may buckle under the pressure, forcing travellers to endure long wait times and inflated prices,” the report warned.
Well, guess what? The industry didn’t work to increase capacity, and travellers are being forced to endure long wait times – and losses incurred by a multitude of cancelled flights.
Recent headlines tell the story.
“Fed-up holidaymakers have reported ‘horrendous’ queues and ‘absolute chaos’ at airports [in the UK] this morning” – MailOnline, June 8.