Travel column with Katie Butler of Total Travel: Another week and another air traffic control drama
You honestly could not make it up. Thankfully, this time round we had far less disruption with our own customers, so there were fewer frantic phone calls and messages asking, “Is my holiday still going ahead?” – always a nice way to start the week!
This latest problem was caused by a technical issue at the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) control centre at Prestwick, which resulted in traffic restrictions being put in place while engineers investigated.
Flights across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England were affected, with Manchester, Leeds Bradford, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen among the airports reporting disruption.
Manchester saw some delays of up to an hour, while Leeds Bradford also advised passengers to check with their airline before travelling.
NATS said the issue was unrelated to the technical problems we saw earlier this month, I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing!
When things like this happen – having booked through a travel agent can be reassuring. We can keep an eye on what is happening and, if something does go wrong, you’ve got somebody to speak to.
Talking of things that have been causing a bit of confusion, we have also been asked lots recently about ETIAS. ETIAS stands for the European Travel Information and Authorisation System.
It will eventually be an online travel authorisation for people from countries such as the UK who can currently visit participating European countries without a visa for short stays.
It is a little bit like the ESTA system for travelling to the USA. It isn’t a visa, but once ETIAS is introduced, eligible travellers will need to apply online before travelling.
The important word here is “eventually” because there has been a bit of a change of plan (again). ETIAS was expected to launch towards the end of 2026, but the European Union has now removed that date from its official website. There is currently no confirmed launch date, with the EU saying it will announce one several months before the system actually goes live.
So, at the moment there is nothing for UK holidaymakers to apply for, if you spot a website asking you for your hard-earned Yorkshire pounds for an ETIAS application right now, keep your purse firmly shut! We will absolutely let you know when this eventually comes into place.
There was some much more positive news for local holidaymakers with Jet2 adding thousands of extra seats to its Summer 2027 programme. From Leeds Bradford, flights have been extended to Chania and Heraklion in Crete, Almeria, Halkidiki and Verona, with additional flights to Palma. From Manchester, the airline is extending its programmes to Heraklion, Menorca and Naples.
And finally, what were you actually booking last week? October was the most popular month, accounting for 17 per cent of bookings, followed by November at ten per cent and December at eight per cent.
Our top three destinations by passenger numbers were Palma in first place, Tenerife second and Dalaman third.
So, despite another little wobble in the world of air traffic control, the holidays continued to be booked and, thankfully, our customers continued to get away.