Huge Queues at UK Ports, Airports as Travellers Try to Escape for Easter Holidays

The situation at the ports was exacerbated by the poor weather in the Channel, the suspension of P&O services and the new traffic rules for heavy goods vehicles.

Heathrow and Manchester airports struggled with huge queues over the weekend as Brits rushed to travel during the Easter holidays, the Daily Mail reported, citing accounts of beleaguered travellers stuck for hours at check-ins, sometimes in poorly ventilated rooms filled to "near capacity".

@manairport you are an absolute disgrace! It was dangerous today, people will get hurt if you do not improve things @BBCNews pic.twitter.com/ZDee9KqTsP

— Jane Gilham (@GilhamJane) April 1, 2022

Check-ins lasted around three hours at Manchester Airport on Sunday with Heathrow airport facing similar difficulties earlier. Queues at the latter are believed to have returned to normal levels since Saturday, the Daily Mail added. Some of the passengers had to wait for an hour for their plane to take off after they had boarded.

Situation at Terminal 2 of the Heathrow airport // spidouxMA84 tweet

© Twitter @spidouxMA84

The main cause of the backlogs at the airports are believed to be an influx of travellers because of the holidays, although staff shortages reportedly contributed to the issue.

Some of the British seaports, namely Dover, faced similar issues, partly for the same reason – an abundance of Brits hoping to cross the Channel as they leave the country for the Easter break. The head of the British Ports Association, Richard Ballantyne, has admitted that the Port of Dover had suffered severe delays in ferry departures and traffic chaos outside the port, but insisted that the situation has improved.

"Yesterday we were witnessing queues of up to nine hours outside the port. Traffic measures are in place, which [...] are working fairly well and it enables other people around east Kent and businesses, residents etc to move around freely," Ballantyne said.

However, passengers still might have to wait between six and eight hours before they can depart, Ballantyne revealed, adding that it was not a "good position". He stressed that the situation might last for several more days, but admitted that he could not say exactly when the queues would end.

Traffic jam at road M20 towards Dover // Twitter Julia Smith (@juliasm18659356)

© Twitter // @juliasm18659356

As well as an influx of travellers, several other factors were blamed for the delays, such as poor weather in the Channel. Additionally, P&O ferries, a major maritime UK transport business, has suspended operations to "secure the long-term viability" of the firm after a scandal related to the sudden sacking of 800 employees.

The road blockages around the Port of Dover were also purportedly exacerbated by the new traffic rules for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in the area that allow HGVs to use one side of the M20 highway, while cars are redirected to the opposite side in a contraflow system.

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