British Airways and easyJet cancelled more than 150 flights on Wednesday as the government and airlines blamed each other for the chaos this week.
BA cancelled at least 124 short-haul flights at Heathrow airport, though it said it informed passengers ahead of time, while some 31 flights were cancelled by low-cost airline easyJet at Gatwick, including those for Bologna, Barcelona, Prague, Krakow, and Edinburgh.
TUI AG (LSE:TUI) yesterday said was cancelling six flights per day from Manchester from now until the end of June, accounting for nearly 200 flights.
Staffing shortages at Tui and its ground handler Swissport, which manages the airport's check-ins and baggage handling, allegedly contributed to the move, according to the airport.
More than 330,000 passengers are expected to pass through Manchester airport between Thursday June 2 and Sunday June 5.
The airport apologised for the disruption and said it was in contact with airline management and ground handlers even as it advised passengers to arrive three hours early for their flights.
In the past week, 291 departures from major UK airports were cancelled, according to aviation data firm Cirium.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said travel firms had "seriously oversold flights and holidays relative to their capacity to deliver,2, comments that sparked a furious response from airline bosses.
Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2, said ministers had a “scant” understanding of how the industry works and blamed the government for the disruption.