“TRAVEL carnage” is how people have described the shambles of queues, crowds, delays and cancellations that has afflicted airports not just across the UK, but also in Ireland, as Dublin airport witnessed similar scenes. As half-term hit England and Wales, with the Jubilee weekend ahead, many found much-anticipated holidays not just delayed but cancelled. But what’s the impact in Scotland? And what does it mean for this summer?

Just how bad is it south of the Border?

Sheer chaos in many airports. In Manchester, after queueing and waiting for eight hours, passengers were told by text that their TUI holidays were cancelled. The travel operator is cancelling a quarter of its flights from Manchester – and blaming staff shortages at the airport. As many as 37,000 holidaymakers will be affected in June. easyJet and British Airways have been cancelling flights every day.

What about Scotland?

There have also been some unhappy travellers at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. One, John Morrison, told the Glasgow Times: “There were hundreds of people waiting to get through the barriers before security. The queue was snaking around the first-floor shops all the way back to the car park entrance. This was 5.45am. Most people seemed to be going on holiday and were in a good mood but no one could understand why the queues were so bad.”

Doesn’t sound too bad. No cancellations?

Oh, those too. For instance the cancelled Glasgow to Antalya flight on Saturday which left one holidaymaker fuming a complaint out over Twitter to TUI, “Not just for me, but the many families left deserted all day at Glasgow Airport, yesterday. Letting us all get to the gate before telling us our ENTIRE HOLIDAY WAS CANCELLED.” Or, how about the Glasgow holidaymakers returning from Antalya, who found themselves stuck on Saturday night in Manchester and ended up paying £800 for a taxi home?

Why is this happening?

Chronic staff shortages after thousands were let go during the pandemic. At Dublin airport, for instance, passenger rates are back to 95 per cent pre-pandemic, but staffing levels are only at 70 percent.

And what does this mean for future holidays?

It’s believed the situation is only likely to get worse over the coming weekend, with Monday June 6 scheduled to be the busiest day for UK ariports flights since 2019 .

But that is not likely to be the end of it. There’s a likelihood of further disarray as staff at BA have balloted to strike, with action likely to take place in July, when flights are expected to be high.

I think I’ll take the train instead…

Two words. Train strikes.

Well, all right then, I'm not leaving the house - still waiting for my delayed passport anyway