Just over a year ago the UK’s Covid travel restrictions were finally lifted, and everyone hoped that we could pick up where we left off at the start of 2020: making up for lost sunshine, city breaks and adventure.
But the summer of 2022 was characterised by chaos – involving thousands of flight cancellations, many of them at very short notice.
This year, the omens are inauspicious. An estimated 20,000 coach passengers hoping to leave Dover for France over the first weekend of the school Easter holidays faced delays of 12 hours or more at the port due to enhanced post-Brexit passport checks.
As that backlog was being cleared, a five-week strike began at HM Passport Office – with 1,000 members of the PCS union walking out in pursuit of a pay claim; the union leader, Mark Serwotka, says some of the staff are living in “abject poverty”. He added: “In my opinion there will be huge delays in the already 10 weeks that people are supposed to apply for passports, and there will be huge disruption on the fast-track service that people can use when they want to get a passport quicker.”
Yet all the indicators are that travellers are more determined than ever to get away. During two one-hour “Ask Me Anything” sessions for The Independent, Travel Correspondent Simon Calder tackled a wide range of questions.
French air-traffic control
Q: Do you think the French air-traffic control strikes will be resolved soon? I am a bit concerned that (like strikes here in the UK) they will continue to rumble on into the peak summer season
“Geema 10”
A: Unrest in France over President Macron’s proposed pension reforms is being felt way beyond its borders due to air-traffic controllers using their industrial muscle to severely restrict the number of overflights through French airspace.
Flights from Germany to Portugal, the UK to Spain and Ireland to Italy cross France (or, sometimes, take expensive, polluting and time-devouring detours to avoid the troublesome skies). While none of the passengers on board is remotely involved in the debate about raising the French retirement age from 62 to 64, they are all affected by the fall-out. French trades unionists see the effects as causing significant harm to President Macron’s image – as well as the economies of France and other European nations.
There were more flight cancellations in the first three…
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