Flights in and out of Leeds Bradford Airport and Doncaster Sheffield Airport are not affected by UK-wide flight cancellations

More than 120 flights have been cancelled and Eurotunnel announced three hour delays, causing issues for British holidaymakers ahead of the Easter holidays.

According to EasyJet and British Airways, the flight cancellations were due to staff absences from Covid, while Eurotunnel said a broken down train caused delays.

However, flights in and out of Leeds Bradford Airport and Doncaster Sheffield Airport have not been affected with all Ryanair, Jet2, Wizz Air and TUI flights operating as normal both today and tomorrow.

Flight cancellations were caused by a combination of factors.

Travel correspondent at The Independent, Simon Calder, told the BBC: “We have got very high levels of Covid in the nation and that is affecting the transport industry. But there are also more underlying problems which go back to the start of Covid.”

These factors included a shortage of staff following thousands of people who left the aviation industry during the pandemic. These staff shortages have led to long queue at security and check-in.

Some passengers at Manchester Airport have missed their flights at the start of the Easter holidays as a result of queues.

There have also been complaints about extensive delays in the baggage reclaim halls.

EasyJet said the cancellations, which include 62 from the UK, were a small part of its schedule on Monday, which is around 1,645 flights.

The airline apologised and said it had tried to offset the problem by using standby crew but was forced “to make some cancellations in advance.”

“As a result of the current high rates of Covid infections across Europe, like all businesses, EasyJet is experiencing higher than usual levels of employee sickness,” a spokesperson said.

He revealed that affected customers had been contacted and could re-book on alternative flights or receive a voucher or refund.

About 60 British Airways flights to and from Heathrow airport were cancelled on Monday, April 4. Fifty were cancelled in advance last week but 10 flights were late notice overnight cancellations, due to Covid sickness among staff.

Eurotunnel warned motorists heading outside of the UK to expect delays after a train ‘temporarily stopped’ in the tunnel linking England to France.

The operator, which runs services from Folkestone to France, warned journeys could be delayed by up to three hours.