Stansted delays: Holidaymakers face THIRD day of travel misery as Ryanair flight cancellations continue

Large crowds were seen queuing at Stansted on Sunday morning
Twitter/Jonathan Senior
Ella Wills29 July 2018

Holidaymakers are facing a third day of travel misery at Stansted Airport after storms grounded flights earlier this week.

Thousands have been hit with flight cancellations and delays so far, the Independent's travel editor Simon Calder told the BBC.

And the disruption is set to continue on Sunday, with frustrated passengers this morning complaining of long queues and cancellations on social media.

A spokeswoman for Ryanair said there is "a very small number of delays and cancellations" on Sunday as a "knock-on effect" from extreme weather and disruptions arising from air-traffic control staff shortages in the UK, France and Germany.

It came as thousands of holidaymakers suffered travel disruption over the extreme weather, with long delays for ferries and cross-Channel trains.

Frustrated passengers: Customers slept on baggage carousels amid disruption at Stansted Airport on Friday
Twitter/OmarUK

Temporary flight restrictions were put in place during the storms across Europe on Friday sparking delays at Stansted.

Luton Airport and Gatwick Airport on Saturday also warned of delays and cancellations due to thunderstorms in Europe, advising passengers to contact their airline for travel information.

Mr Calder said passengers travelling to and from Stansted with Ryanair have been the worst hit.

He told BBC Breakfast that Ryanair cancelled about 50 flights on Saturday, and "gradually the number of cancellations has been increasing this [Sunday] morning".

Pictures shared on Twitter showed long queues to check in for Ryanair flights at Stansted this morning.

One traveller, named James Mullighan, claimed there were 200 people in a queue to rearrange cancelled bookings.

In a statement, Ryanair said: “Our UK operation is running well today.

"There is a very small number of delays and cancellations as a knock-on effect from the extreme weather disruptions (Fri) and the disruptions arising from ATC staff shortages in the UK, France and Germany."

Brits heading for summer getaways by rail and ferry also faced major disruption on Friday and Saturday,.

People were left waiting for several hours to check in at the Eurotunnel at Folkestone amid extreme weather conditions.

The cross-Channel rail operator blamed "recent severe weather conditions" for the delays.

It said the service is running as scheduled with up to four departures an hour on Sunday.

Meanwhile, there was heavy traffic around the Port of Dover on Saturday as families headed for the Continent by ferry.

Passengers were told to expect long queues on the roads into the port, with a minimum two-hour wait to get through border checks.

P&O ferries advised its customers to take plenty of drinks, snacks and entertainment for the wait.

A spokesman for Stansted said the airport has been "operational as normal today with no air traffic flow restrictions at the airport".

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