Flight cancellations and train strikes are plaguing the British

London: Thanasis Gavos

Chaos prevails in the transport sector in Britain with continuous flight cancellations but also with warnings to avoid train travel this week due to a long strike.

The airport administration Heathrow of London announced this morning that 10% of scheduled flights will be canceled today, ie 90 flights.

The decision was made to reduce traffic and allow the airport to better manage luggage, which in previous days formed a “carpet” on the floor outside the terminal due to lack of staff and technical problems.

Meanwhile, the EasyJet announced that it is “preventively” reducing the number of flights to airports where the main problems in serving the passenger public are identified, such as mainly Gatwick in London and Shiphol in Amsterdam.

Compared to 2019, the low cost company expects to operate 90% of its flights in the July-September quarter.

The problems at British airports, with continuous cancellations even at the last minute and long flight delays, are due to the lack of staffing of both airports and airlines after the pandemic.

Alongside, Britain prepares for “paralysis” of the national railway network from tomorrow Tuesday due to the strikes declared by the workers’ unions both in the railway companies and in the railway maintenance network.

The strikes have been declared for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but passengers are urged to avoid train travel from tomorrow until Sunday.

With at least 40,000 workers involved, it is considered the biggest strike in the sector in 30 years in Britain, as only 20% of the routes on 50% of the national network will take place, with no public service after 6.30pm.

Workers are demanding pay increases amid scrutiny, some layoffs being canceled and safety measures being improved, while the largest union, RMT, says strikes could be repeated regularly until Christmas.

Teachers’ unions, NHS public health workers, postal workers, lawyers, telephony workers, London Underground workers and others have also expressed their intention to go on strike in the coming summer.