Greatest getaway since 2019 begins with problems at Gatwick and Dover

Exclusive: After easyJet cancelled the Gatwick-Milan morning flight at 3am, the airline must move passengers to British Airways at £652 each

The busiest weekend since 2019 is under way, with millions on the move from Britain’s airports and many more taking breaks in the UK.

At Manchester airport, 90 flights – carrying more than 15,000 people – are due to depart between the first flight out at 5.45am to Malta and 10am.

The most popular destinations on “Frantic Friday” from the northwest airport are:

• Palma de Mallorca (six departures before 10am)
• Corfu and Tenerife (four each)
• Alicante, Amsterdam, Bourgas (Bulgaria), Malaga and Menorca (three each)

Long-haul destinations include Abu Dhabi, Doha and Orlando.

London Gatwick and Heathrow are offering significantly fewer flights than originally planned. The leading airline at each airport – easyJet and British Airways respectively – have each cancelled thousands of departures due to resource shortages.

In addition, Gatwick has capped July flight operations at 825 per day, compared with a usual peak of 900, while Heathrow is imposing a daily cap of 100,000 departing passengers – resulting in some flight cancellations and other planes taking off with empty seats at a time when demand is intense.

At Gatwick, departures began slowly with delays of an hour more for some easyJet and Vueling flights.

One Friday morning easyJet flight to Milan Malpensa was cancelled at 3am. Seats for anyone whose flight is grounded are scarce; easyJet has none until Wednesday, and the only alternative on Friday is with British Airways at a fare of £652. Under European air passengers’ rights rules, easyJet must pay that amount to get travellers to their destination.

With cancellation compensation of £220 per person for each leg of the flight, the cost to the carrier for the grounded flight could top £250,000.

The Sussex airport is expecting its busiest day for almost three years to be on Sunday, with 130,000 arriving and departing passengers.

The Independent calculates 35 easyJet departures from Gatwick to Malaga in a row are completely sold out.

At Britain’s key port for holidaymakers, Dover, delays are expected because of extra passport checks resulting from Brexit. The port is telling motorists: “Due to delays at French border controls prior to check-in please allow extra time for your journey.”

DFDS Ferries, which sails from Dover to Calais and Dunkerque, tweeted: “Please allow four hours to complete the check in process and border controls at the port.”

Fuel protesters are expected to stage slowdowns on key routes including the M4, M5, M32 and A38.

Motorists are also warned about congestion on the M25 around London and the A303 through Wiltshire.

The national rail network is running smoothly, with no significant disruption. But train drivers working for Greater Anglia belonging to the Aslef union will walk out on Saturday in a dispute over pay. Services including the Stansted Express are likely to be sharply reduced.

The next national rail strike, involving 40,000 members of the RMT union working for Network Rail and 14 train operators, will take place on Wednesday 27 July. A further train drivers’ strike involving eight train operators is scheduled for Saturday 30 July.