NEWS VOWS ON THE BOW:


Agents Joanne Dooey and Jimmy Martin have been together for 18 years but unexpectedly tied the knot on board Silver Dawn – ahead of plans to make it official on dry land. The pair, on the SPAA Council’s first overseas trip since Covid, were ‘blessed’ by the captain at sea, and plan to register the wedding to make it legal after their return home. The short ceremony in the ship’s observation lounge came just 36 hours after the pair told fellow council members and Silversea staff how the pandemic had scuppered their original plans to wed in 2020.


Airline chiefs upbeat but warn of impact of European ATC delays


Ian Taylor


This summer should see no repeat of last year’s volume of flight delays and cancellations, say airline bosses, but they fear air traffic control delays around Europe will be worse. Speaking at the Airlines for


Europe Summit in Brussels last week, Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary warned “air traffic control will be significantly worse than last year” although airports and ground handling “will be significantly better”. He blamed the impact of strikes,


airlines are only part of the aviation sector. We’ve gone through every part of the operation – pilot and crew availability, suppliers’ capability. We’ve finished recruiting. “We’re confident we’ve addressed


STORY TOP


everything we can control. Everyone is much better prepared. But if something happens anywhere in the ecosystem, it has an impact.” He noted: “There will be 50% more passengers [this summer] with reduced airspace [and] it will be a challenge. Air traffic control delays will be worse.” French ATC strikes hit UK


especially at French air traffic control (ATC), in addition to constraints on airspace due to the war in Ukraine. Lufthansa chief executive Carsten


Spohr noted “20% of airspace is closed due to the war” and warned: “Summer 2023 will be a summer of delays.” EasyJet chief Johan Lundgren agreed, saying: “We’re ready, but


travelweekly.co.uk


flights “very badly”, Lundgren added, noting: “Half our operations fly across French airspace.” O’Leary said: “Customers don’t


understand why flights from the UK to Spain are cancelled because of strikes in France.” But he warned: “It’s not going to stop. We got a note last night to cancel 60 flights tomorrow.”


EU transport commissioner


Adina-Ioana Valean warned returning air traffic itself “increased” delays, saying: “Travel is likely to reach 95% of the 2019 level this summer. As the skies become more crowded, this will only increase the risk of delays.” Despite the concerns, the Easter


school holiday began with few reports of flight delays. The problems were all at Dover where coaches were delayed for up to 24 hours at the weekend. The Port of Dover blamed


“lengthy French border processes and sheer volume” of traffic, on top of “challenging weather conditions and high seasonal volumes”, and suggested: “Additional coach bookings taken by ferry operators for Easter impacted operations.” It declared the “critical incident”


over on Monday with “all this weekend’s coaches processed through immigration controls and headed off to France” and promised “a full review of our plans with ferry


operators to ensure improvements for the Easter weekend”. A spokesperson declined to give


“any additional information”. But the coach operators’ association, the Confederation of Passenger Transport, demanded “crisis talks” with ferry operators, the port and the government amid reports of a possible cap on the number of coaches at peak times. At Heathrow, a 10-day strike by


security staff at Terminal 5 went ahead from March 31, forcing the cancellation of 32 British Airways flights a day. But Heathrow reported: “The airport is operating as usual, security is free flowing.” An airline source said: “The


impact has been less than feared. The contingency plans seem to be working.” However, holidaymakers heading


to Portugal over Easter face delays on entry due to industrial action by


border officials on April 6-10. i O’Leary seeks ‘protection’, page 46


6 APRIL 2023 5


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