10,000 hit as easyJet scraps flights

ALMOST 10,000 people have had their flights cancelled after easyJet admitted it does not have enough trained staff to cope with a surge in passenger numbers.

They are the first customers to have their bookings scrapped since the budget airline warned last week that it needed to cut flights to regain control over its schedule and ease the severe pressure on its pilots and cabin crew.

The Luton-based airline, founded by flamboyant Greek millionaire Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has been 'stretched to the limit' since its £374m takeover of Go two weeks ago. A bungled new rota system has added to the problems.

Almost as soon as the acquisition took place, 19 flights had to be cancelled because easyJet did not have enough staff or extra aircraft when two planes developed technical problems. Thousands of passengers suffered delays and many abandoned their journeys.

Now thousands more passengers face further holiday misery. As part of its restructuring, easyJet, which boasted of a 62% rise in passengers last month, is to end all Go flights from Belfast to Glasgow and Edinburgh from next Tuesday. It is contacting 9,882 passengers with Go tickets to offer them alternative easyJet flights where available.

The move comes after easyJet's operations director, Vilhelm Hahn-Petersen, wrote to pilots to tell them the company was 'stretched to the limit' and the 'current situation cannot continue'.

The cancellation of the Belfast flights raises questions over easyJet's ability to cope with other services it has taken over from Go, its Stansted-based former rival, including routes to Barcelona, Malaga, Nice and Palma. A spokeswoman said there were no plans for further changes.

EasyJet's decision will cause 'anger and frustration' among holidaymakers, said Simon Evans, chief executive of the Air Transport Users Council. 'People will be very annoyed if they have been looking forward to their summer holiday only to find they have to cancel it or change their plans at the last minute,' Evans added.

'The company is usually good at rearranging flights, but we are talking about thousands of people and not all of them will be able to accept the alternative arrangements - because they either have to travel on a different day or from another airport.

'We will be watching very closely to see how easyJet copes with the changes. People will get refunds, of course, if they cannot travel on alternative flights, but for many it may be too late to arrange another holiday. Others could lose money on pre-paid car hire or hotel bookings.'

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