Sunday 29 May 2022 07:55 PM Bristol airport likened to a ZOO amid travel chaos as EasyJet and TUI axe ... trends now

Half-term holidayers went through another day of travel chaos as hundreds of flights from Manchester, Bristol and London Gatwick were axed.

Bristol airport was compared to a 'zoo', with its crowded terminal the site of yet more chaos and confusion. 

Last-minute cancellations even came as families sat on planes.

One Twitter user wrote: 'Bristol Zoo, sorry airport was the same for the Mrs on Friday. She made her flight only because it was delayed.

'Try employing more people, even on a temporary basis to cover the holidays. Oh come great asteroid!'

It followed news at Manchester Airport yesterday that TUI passengers were told their trips were cancelled by text after appalling eight-hour delays.

Police were called to the airport to quell a disturbance that broke out after the cancellation, the Manchester Evening News reported.

Meanwhile, a British Airways flight from the Italian city of Cagliari to Gatwick planned for 11:30am has been delayed until at least 7pm, leaving mothers and young children stranded in a small airport with no explanation given for the delay and no access to baby milk or sanitary products.

Bristol Airport also  urged passengers not to arrive too early to avoid congestion, but passengers described severe waiting times this morning with few staff on the ground.

A TUI flight from Bristol to Paphos, Cyprus, was also delayed by eight hours yesterday and then cancelled in the evening.  Among the passengers were 34 wedding guests including the bride and groom.

Seren Rounds, a primary school teacher, and her fiancé, electrician Adam Howells, are on the verge of postponing their wedding after their flight to Cyprus was scrapped.

Ms Rounds, 27, and Mr Howells, 29, of Caerleon, South Wales, have been planning their big day since 2020, but might be forced to postpone it after Tui cancelled their flight to Paphos.

34 guests were due to fly from Bristol on Saturday, with 11 guests already in Cyprus, but their 1.30pm outbound flight was first delayed and then cancelled.

The wedding is booked for Thursday June 2 but they have an appointment at a town hall on Monday.

Miss Rounds' mother Lisa Trenchard said there is now 'no way' they can find flights for all 34 guests, so the wedding is 'ruined'.

Ms Trenchard, 55, a health visiting manager from Caerleon, said: 'We have families with babies and a devastated bride and groom to be.'

She added: 'Absolutely I blame Tui, not necessarily for the initial problem, but their lack of visibility and compassion, and how they have taken the easy option to cancel.'

Yesterday in Manchester Airport, the troubled flight to Kos, out of Terminal 2, was supposed to take off at 3.45pm but angry ticketholders say they would have missed the flight anyway due to queues 'out of the building' to check-in. 

After an eight four-hour delay, passengers say they were informed by a text from TUI that their trip, including flights and an all-inclusive hotel, were cancelled. 

Helen, from Sale, Cheshire, was travelling to Kos with her husband and teenage daughter. They have been left appalled by the treatment, they say. 'It's utter, utter chaos,' she said. 

'There has been hardly any staff here. Everyone got a text from TUI saying their holidays have been cancelled and to go home. 

'The check-in girls knew nothing, we found out before they did. And they were left to deal with hundreds of passengers complaining, a full flight's worth. 

'The police had to come in and make an announcement, a holidaymaker was arrested and was in handcuffs. 

'We have had to go back through security, show our passports, even though we'd never left the airport.'

'All the passengers are really angry, there's children crying. We've taken the week off work, my daughter is off school - she'd been looking forward to this holiday, bought new clothes and everything. We expected it to be bad at Manchester Airport but everyone is in shock at how bad it actually is. The police had to unload people's suitcases because there were no staff to do it.' 

George Sharp said his daughter had travelled from Bradford for their holiday to Kos - on the same flight as Helen - and had been queuing since 12pm. They were at the gate ready to board the flight when they received a text from TUI saying their £4,500 trip was cancelled. 

'It was like circumstances I've never ever heard of before,' George said. 'They went to board and then they cancelled not just the flight but the entire holiday. TUI staff refused to face up to anyone and the police arrived to tell them to go back through security to collect their bags and go home. 

'She just got married two years ago so all they've known is Covid since they got married in March 2020 and this was supposed to be a big reset for them and to help them get back to normality. They were with a five-year-old little girl and it's just horrendous. They were just heartbroken and confused. 

'It's hard to console her, because what can you say? They had only just got their passports two days ago so they've been stressed to bits over that. It's just been one thing after another. To be at the airport for eight hours, face numerous delays and get ready to board to then be told that it's over is just really upsetting for them all. There's been no communication other than a text message.' 

Jayesh Patel, from Manchester, was due to travel on the same flight to Kos with his wife and their three children, aged nine, 12 and 13. 

'We arrived at the airport three hours before our flight, as advised, and the queue for the baggage at T2 was all along the sky bridge up to terminal one,' Jayesh said.  

'At 7.48pm, we received a text to tell us our entire holiday had been cancelled. There was nobody at the airport to speak to, but there was a lot of upset and frustration as we all received the text at the same time. 

'We all then had to go back through passport control, which was ironic as we hadn't gone anywhere, and back into arrivals to wait for our luggage which was already on the plane. 

'People were visibly upset and children were crying. We then had to wait another couple of hours and at this point, we'd spent the whole day at the airport and just wanted to leave. ' 

Jayesh said all passengers were offered a full refund on their flights, £350 in compensation and a £200 holiday voucher, but he says he would rather the voucher was in cash. 

'Realistically, I'm not sure we want to book another holiday with TUI at this point,' he explained. 

'We've travelled with TUI in the past - before the pandemic - but I've got no confidence in them at this point. I can't see these problems being solved in the short-term either so I think I would rather just have the cash, instead of a voucher, so we can book elsewhere.' 

Speaking about what he and his family now plan to do with their week off, he said they will just spend time together as it looks like they will be unable to book somewhere last minute. 

He added: 'We thought we'd be waking up this morning going out to have a Greek breakfast somewhere near the beach, but it wasn't meant to be.' 

A spokesperson for TUI said: 'We would like to apologise for the inconvenience to our customers on flight TOM2680 from Manchester and Kos, on Saturday 28th May who were delayed to a combination of factors causing significant operational disruption. 

'Unfortunately, we felt the impact to customers' holidays was too great and took the difficult decision to cancel the flight. We contacted affected customers as soon as we became aware of the change and all customers will receive a full refund within 14 days. We understand how disappointing and frustrating this is and we do apologise for any inconvenience caused.'

Meanwhile, one traveller stranded in Cagliari, Italy told of how her 11:30am British Airways flight to Gatwick has been delayed until at least 7pm with no communication from the airline.

'We are at Cagliari airport in Sardinia and our BA flight is going to be over seven hours delayed. Absolutely no communication on why,' she told MailOnline.

'No one in the whole airport seems to have any

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