Getaways by road, rail, sky and sea are expected to be disrupted this long weekend as travellers race to get away for the Easter break.
Despite the soaring cost of fuel, motorists are planning more Easter leisure journeys than ever before in the coming weekend.
The RAC says drivers are collectively planning more than 21 million leisure journeys by car this weekend – the highest number for an Easter bank holiday since the organisation first started tracking motorists’ plans in 2014.
The scale of the Easter getaway on the roads is likely to be increased because of the closures of key parts of the West Coast Main railway line.
Meanwhile, easyJet and British Airways continue to cancel flights, having axed more than 80 scheduled services between them today.
While both airlines have attributed their cancellations in the past fortnight to staff sickness and absence, UK airports have reported staffing issues leading to longer than usual queues and waits.
P&O Ferries has also caused chaos for holidaymakers by suspending all of its Dover-Calais services over the Easter weekend.
Follow the latest updates below.
Jet2 launches Athens flights from Manchester and Birmingham
Jet2 today launched its first flights to the Greek capital, Athens, from Manchester and Birmingham Airports.
Two services per week (Thursday and Sunday) will fly from each base until the end of October.
The operator now flies to 15 locations in Greece.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2, said: “As the UK’s leading airline and tour operator to Greece, we are delighted to see our first flights take off to Athens from Manchester and Birmingham Airports today.
“It is fantastic to be operating flights and city breaks to this historic city for the first time, as we know that Athens is a destination that customers want to get to.”
Lucy Thackray14 April 2022 12:09
Network Rail to carry out 530 engineering projects over Easter
Network Rail has announced it will carry out some 530 engineering projects over Easter, costing a total of £83 million.
This includes the closure of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes (Friday 15 to Monday 18 April) for upgrades and HS2 works.
Re-signalling and crossing works will also commence at Clapham Junction, while HS2 works and line upgrades will also be inaction at London Euston and Watford North Junction stations.
Network Rail said that 95 per cent of the network would be unaffected by the improvements.
Chief executive Andrew Haines said: “The majority of the railway will be open as usual this Easter for people to take a short break or visit loved ones, but some routes will be affected by our upgrade works, so we’re asking passengers to plan ahead and check their journeys in advance.
“We’ll be carrying out hundreds of vital projects that will improve passengers’ journeys in future – for example by improving reliability and boosting capacity on the network.”
Lucy Thackray14 April 2022 11:43
Ferries apologies to Dover-Calais passengers and offers alternative sailings
Four weeks ago, P&O Ferries ordered all its vessels to tie up and await an important announcement.
Nearly 800 crew were told that they were being made redundant and would be replaced by cheaper agency staff.
Since then P&O has resumed sailings on all its routes except the most crucial: Dover-Calais.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We apologise unreservedly to all customers whose scheduled journeys with us between Dover and Calais have been cancelled whilst we are unable to sail.
“It is only fair and right that we make alternative arrangements for those customers, which include transferring them onto our Hull-Europoort service to Rotterdam, or booking them onto services with Brittany Ferries between…
Read More: Chaos expected on trains, planes and roads for Easter – live updates