easyJet has issued a public apology to customers for “failing to deliver the service they have come to expect from us”.
But the company has admitted that more flights will be cancelled this summer.
After what has been scenes of travel chaos at airports across the UK in recent weeks, with many travellers hit by long queues, flight delays, and in several cases, services cancelled in advance and on the last minutes, budget airliner easyJet has apologised to customers and blamed issues such as staff shortages and air traffic control delays for the ongoing issues.
easyJet has confirmed that a number of flights will be cancelled in and out of Gatwick over the coming months, which is in response to the airport’s announcement last week that it would be introducing flight caps to help it cope with a staff shortage.
It’s thought that this could mean the cancellation of up to 10,000 of 160,000 flights on sale for July, August, and September, which are undoubtedly some of the busiest months for air travel, but easyJet has not confirmed numbers yet.
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Read more: easyJet cancels over 200 flights due to COVID staff absences
It is also unclear at this time whether any other UK airports – including Manchester Airport – are to be affected by easyJet’s announcement.
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easyJet has apologised for “failing to deliver” the service customers have come to expect from the airline / Credit: Flickr
A statement confirming the upcoming reduction in flights, the airline said: “easyJet is proactively consolidating a number of flights across affected airports [and] this provides customers with advance notice and the potential to rebook on to alternative flights.”
easyJet’s CEO John Lundgren said the airline was not struggling to recruit people, but that the struggle is rather in getting security clearance for new employees – with ID clearance said to be taking 14 weeks compared to 10 weeks previously – and he also referenced Brexit’s ending of Europeans’ ability to move freely to the UK to work as having an impact.
“Delivering a safe and reliable operation for our customers in this challenging environment is easyJet’s highest priority and we are sorry that for some customers we have not been able to deliver the service they have come to expect from us,” Mr Lundgren said.
“While in recent weeks, the action we have taken to build in further resilience has seen us continue to operate up to 1,700 flights and carry up to a quarter of a million customers a day, the ongoing challenging operating environment has unfortunately continued to have an impact which has resulted in cancellations.”
Major pop star crowns humble rice and three cafe as ‘Jewel of Manchester’ ahead of sold-out gig
Thomas Melia
A beloved city centre takeaway has been given the title of ‘Jewel of Manchester’ by chart-topping UK singer Sam Smith.
Known for hits like ‘Stay With Me’, ‘I’m Not The Only One’ and more recently ‘Unholy’, UK pop-ballad act Sam Smith also likes to drop a food review every once in a while.
Currently on the road with a run of shows in Manchester and London for their ‘To Be Free’ live shows, Sam Smith is stopping off at some of our city’s much-loved spots.
On their food-reviewing account titled ‘Sam Served’, where they adopt the aptly-fitting nickname ‘Ham Smith’, Sam has visited restaurants across the globe – and most recently turned their attention to Manchester’s own This & That.
Smith decided to pop in and grab a cheeky rice and three from long-standing backstreet food business This & That, and it certainly went down a treat.
After sampling their amazing selection of meat, vegetable and vegan curries, the musician crowned this family-run Indian takeaway a ‘Jewel of Manchester’.
The hitmaker described this Northern Quarter Indian eatery as ‘Everything food should be’ and definitely enjoyed all the curries on offer ‘leaving belly and heart full’.
This & That prides itself on affordable and comforting food with its ‘Rice and Three Curries’ starting from just £6 – not bad for a city centre foodie spot.
Sam has racked up an impressive 490k followers via their ‘Sam Served’ profile, with famous faces like Lily Allen, Denise Welch and CMAT all wanting to know the superstar’s foodie thoughts.
After enjoying a curry or three, Sam Smith also made sure to feed their soul to by venturing down to Afflecks and getting lost in the music at Mars Tapes.
Recognised as one of the UK’s only cassette and tape shops, Mars Tapes lets you flick through their crates of physical media and even preview tracks before you buy with its dedicated listening areas.
It’s safe to say that Smith has ‘Latched’ onto Manchester’s independent business scene and we’re here for it.
The London-born artist has just released their latest album Hazel Eyes and is currently amid a UK residency tour with two dates in Manchester’s Albert Hall and eight shows set for London Coliseum.
24-hour bus services are now running across all Greater Manchester boroughs
Emily Sergeant
24-hour bus services are now running across all boroughs in Greater Manchester.
You may remember that back in March, it was announced that every borough of Greater Manchester was set to get a night bus service in what is hoped to be a ‘boost’ to the night-time economy… and now it’s official, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has launched those 24-hour buses this month, along with a series of other measures.
Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, and Trafford now join the rest of Greater Manchester in having 24-hour bus services, meaning every part of the region will have a night bus operating Thursday through to Sunday.
It’s expected that these new services will help around 625,400 people working in the night-time economy across Greater Manchester, as well as those out enjoying the region’s nightlife, TfGM has said.
The routes which will run around the clock from Thursday until Sunday are:
50 (Salford – Manchester)
216 (Tameside – Manchester)
263 (Trafford – Manchester)
192 (Stockport – Manchester)
83 (Oldham – Manchester)
All Greater Manchester boroughs now have 24-hour bus services / Credit: TfGM
They launch alongside the most significant service changes to the Bee Network since the completion of bus franchising last year – including other new bus routes, and more frequent services across Greater Manchester.
“We want everyone to be able to enjoy everything Greater Manchester offers, without the worry of how to get there and get home,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor, Bev Craig.
“By growing the Bee Network, we’re making it easier than ever for people to use the bus, day and night.
“Our night buses are already providing a lifeline to some of the hundreds of thousands of people who are growing our night-time economy and working in essential public services.”
“Whether people are heading home from a night at the theatre or starting the early shift at a hospital, they can now get on board the night bus as a safe and affordable way to travel.”
Further improvements will delivered from January 2027, and a full breakdown by borough can be found on the Bee Network website here.
Emily Sergeant -
20th June 2022 
