Travellers in Britain expected to face weekend of misery as strike action begins

Passengers warned of lengthy airport queues and road and rail chaos

Passengers queue to check-in for a Qatar Airways flight in Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport as travellers are told to expect chaos. PA

Travellers in the UK have been told to expect a weekend of disruption at airports and on the railway network.

Rail passengers are being warned of significant disruption to services over the Bank Holiday weekend because of a strike by conductors.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at TransPennine Express walked out on Saturday and will strike again on Sunday in a long-running dispute over pay.

TransPennine Express has urged people not to travel, saying it will be running an amended timetable on both days, with a very limited service available for those making essential journeys.

People heading to events including jubilee celebrations were urged to seek alternative transport.

“We are saddened that continuing RMT strikes will mean we are unable to provide a full service for customers over such a special weekend, when celebrations will be taking place across the UK,” Kathryn O’Brien, customer experience director for TransPennine Express, said.

“With strike action planned for both Saturday and Sunday, coupled with major engineering work, our advice for customers is not to travel by train, and anyone heading to an event should seek alternative transport.”

Lengthy queues are expected at airport passport controls caused by a surge in people returning from jubilee getaways, while motoring group the AA spoke of delays on the roads as 19 million drivers were expected to get behind the wheel.

In London, Tube workers are expected to head out on strike on Monday after talks aimed at avoiding a strike by subway station staff collapsed.

“We will keep as many stations as possible open, but we expect that this strike will cause severe disruption and the closure of many Tube stations,” Transport for London said in a statement, adding commuters should avoid travelling.

Britons have had a four-day weekend for Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum Jubilee and many have chosen to go overseas.

Travellers will return home on Sunday, testing the capacity of road networks and airports’ ability to process arrivals.

Disruption on Sunday and Monday would be the latest headache in the UK after the Easter holiday led to delays on the rail, road and air travel networks. For Londoners, the Tube strike means disruption will spill into Tuesday.

“We expect the severe disruption caused by this strike to continue into the morning of Tuesday 7 June, and I’m sorry for the impact this will have on people’s journeys next week,” Transport for London’s chief operating officer Andy Lord said in a statement.

After cutting jobs during coronavirus lockdowns, airports and airlines have struggled to hire enough workers to cope with a return to full capacity.

Gatwick Airport has in excess of 40 per cent fewer direct employees than it did before the pandemic started.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has called for help from British military personnel to help deal with the disruption.

“Bringing in the army, which they do at many other European airports, would, at a stroke, relieve the pressure on airport security and would mean that people have a much better experience — not just this weekend, but for each weekend over the next three, four months,” he told ITV News.

More than 10,000 flights have left the UK over the four-day weekend, according to data from analytics firm Cirium.

Airlines have asked the government to relax its immigration rules for European citizens to help them hire staff.

The UK has recorded a loss of European Union nationals because of the combined impact of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic, leaving many companies with staffing shortages.