Long queues today at Manchester Airport are just a foretaste of what's in store when the Easter getaway hits its stride next week, experts warned.
The airport told passengers to arrive at least three hours before their scheduled departure time, with staffing issues especially a shortage of security personnel again blamed.
Charlie Cornish, chief executive of the Manchester Airports Group, apologised for the delays today and over the past weeks.
“I apologise to anyone who has been affected by the disruption,” he wrote in an online statement.
EasyJet and British Airways also announced more flight cancellations due to staff issues and warned the disruption might last weeks.
Combined, the two airlines cancelled 100 more flights today, though passengers on many of these were notified in advance said the carriers.
Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, said he was "very concerned" about the possibility of more disruption over Easter, urging companies to "redouble their efforts" to improve the situation.
Anyone planning a witch to the roads to escape the airport problems might also have to think again.
Traffic on the roads heading the ports to Dover is expected to be a standstill this weekend, days before the real start of the holiday traffic season.
Thousands of lorries are already parked on the M20 waiting to depart with the situation likely to get worse after P&O Ferries cancelled all of its services for the weekend.
The company, already embroiled in a row with the government over the illegal sacking of 800 staff that it replaced with contract workers, told customers who had booked a place on a P&O ferry to “re-book directly with another operator before arriving at the port."
Rival ferry operator DFDS said it didn’t have the capacity to take on the P&O passengers and so has decided to focus on its own passengers.
Dover Council is preparing to announce a major incident this weekend, according to Sky News, to cope with the jams.
According to the AA around 28mln car journeys are likely to be made over the Easter break, half of which will be on Good Friday, 15 April.
Shares in easyJet rose 1% to 525p while BA owner IAG edged up to 133.1p.