Last winter, the main UK travel operators and tour operators were talking about a significant increase in holiday bookings this year with massive pent up demand for holidays in the UK. Granted, we were starting to see some light at the end of the Covid tunnel but no one knew that Russia was going top invade Ukraine.
However, that is no excuse for the situation at British airports which is infuriating the tours operators and holidaymakers.
With Britons already jumping back on flights and Easter just around the corner, it transpires that airports like Manchester and Dublin, just to name two, which are key UK gateways to the Balearics and Majorca are having serious staff problems. Border Force UK, which is in charge of immigration, is short staffed and this is leading to long delays for people leaving the country. Couple that with a lack of immigration staff at Palma airport which a number of readers have brought to the attention of the Bulletin over the past few weeks, and it could be enough to put people off coming to Mallorca.
Border Force have been warned time and time again but did they take any notice and get prepared for the travel industry taking off again? No. Now they not only have a problem recruiting extra staff because it appears very few Britons want a job, they then have to train them to a certified level which does not happen over night. Not a great restart for the industry.