Thanks for joining us - today's writers were Dulcie Lee, James Harness and Andre Rhoden-Paul.

And thanks to travel journalist Simon Calder for answering questions from readers earlier.

If you're travelling this weekend, we wish you a safe journey.

We're going to leave our coverage of the holiday travel situation in the UK here now.

If you want to read more - we have a report on the anger among some Tui customers here.

And here we have an explainer on why flights are being cancelled, and how long the problem is likely to last.

If you're one of the unlucky ones, and wondering what your rights are because your flight has been cancelled, you can check our advice here.

As ever, our colleagues on the website will keep across any major developments, and you'll be able to find them on the main news page.

Katy Austin
Transport correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Half term is usually busy, and the jubilee bank holiday is almost upon us.

Passenger levels are heading towards what they were before the pandemic now that travel restrictions have eased. But it’s been clear since before Easter that some airports and airlines were struggling to cope with the volume of people travelling again.

We do hear of some delays and last-minute cancellations, but a number airlines - including British Airways, Easyjet and TUI - have cancelled hundreds of flights in advance to try and improve reliability and prevent last-minute disruption.

Aviation recruiters tell me they just can’t get the staff they need in some areas like baggage handling, and even cleaning.

They say lots of workers left during Covid for other industries, and there isn’t the same pool of European labour as there was before Brexit. And it takes a long time to get staff through security clearance so they can work air-side.

But the industry says businesses are doing what they can to recover, and they insist the majority of passengers do get away on their holidays fine.

Some 19.5 million trips by car will be made over the Jubilee bank holiday weekend, the RAC predicts, potentially clogging up roads.

Friday is expected to be the busiest day, the motoring group says, with the M25 forecast to be a hotspot.

Image source, .

The M25, southbound M5, A303 and A720 Edinburgh city bypass have all been flagged as roads to watch for potential delays.

Traffic data company Inrix are advising drivers to start their journeys as early as possible or wait until later in the day to avoid any jams.

And remember, if you’re heading out in the car over the Jubilee weekend, you can get up-to-date traffic information from your local BBC radio station.

Find your local station here.

Image source, Pat Karney

About 34,000 customers due to fly with Tui from Manchester Airport in June have been told their holidays are now cancelled.

For many, the news came overnight in emails sent after 02:00 BST on Wednesday.

Pat Karney, a councillor in Manchester, said he received an early-hours message confirming his holiday to Girona on 18 June had been cancelled.

He described the situation as a "shambles" and asked: "Why book us in the first place?"

Michael Dunne, who also received a notification, said he was assured by Tui his holiday was not affected when he phoned the firm on Tuesday evening - only to find out it was cancelled overnight.

"I made a phone call to them late last night and managed to actually get through... and I was told at that point last night that there was no impact to my holiday and it was going ahead," he said.

"I woke up in the middle of the night to find an email cancelling the holiday in its entirety, and if I would like to rebook using the website but cannot do so until Friday."

Mr Dunne told BBC Radio 5 Live that when he looked on the Tui website for the same holiday, flying on the same dates, to the same hotel but on a different flight, the quoted price was £5,000 higher than he paid.

Tui blamed a combination of "the increase in people going on holidays" and "various operational and supply chain issues", and said affected customers would receive a full refund within 14 days.

Simon Browning
Business Reporter

Travel bosses are not happy today.

Yes, some are struggling to make sure their customers who’ve paid for flights and holidays can go on them.

But they’re also very unhappy with the government.

Last night, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he “wasn’t seeing the progress we need to” and, on BBC Breakfast, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said “fundamentally the responsibility is on them” to sort out.

But travel bosses say they spent the pandemic warning ministers that unless they got sector specific support and funding, the significant cuts they made to their businesses would be incredibly damaging. They say that’s the damage we’re seeing now.

One boss says getting back to the levels of skills and training "doesn’t happen at the flick of a switch" and said being blamed now for it - when they had told the government they needed support - was "very distressing".

Earlier we told you warnings for major disruptions were issued at two international airports in Paris.

The Paris Airport authority, which runs Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, said software problems impacting French Border Police controls and checks could lead to delays.

But now the authority says the computer system is gradually going back to normal.

BBC Journalist Katie Stafford was at Birmingham Airport in the early hours of yesterday morning and took this photo of baggage reclaim.

She says there were hundreds of abandoned suitcases. She took the picture at 05:20 BST, and said passengers from one flight were still waiting for their cases after landing at 01:30.

Another update from Eurostar now, which says delays this morning were due to a now-resolved IT issue affecting e-gates at the French border.

Trains currently have a delay on departure of 30-60 minutes, a spokesperson says.

"We are very sorry for the extended wait today. Our teams are working hard to support passengers through check in," they add.

Find live Eurostar travel information on their website here, external.

A travel association has criticised the government for making the travel industry out to be "the bad guy".

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Rabb told the BBC this morning that, fundamentally, the responsibility lay with the aviation and holiday sector to increase their staffing.

But Gemma Antrobus, chair of Association of Independent Tour Operators, says the situation could have been avoided if the government had provided more help to the industry during the pandemic.

She said the industry had to make significant cuts, and companies were struggling to get back to pre-pandemic levels due to a lack of specific support for the sector.

How long will problems last?published at 14:29 British Summer Time 1 June 2022

14:29 BST 1 June 2022

Simon Calder
Travel journalist

An anonymous reader asks: We are flying in August. Will there still be problems then?

Everyone hopes that things will improve by July. Indeed, the airlines and airports have this month to demonstrate they can get the right staff in the right places to deliver a dependable service.

The most significant risk I can see is that companies reluctantly scale back plans for peak summer and a proportion of holidays are cancelled to protect the remaining trips – in just the same way that Tui has proactively grounded almost 200 outbound flights in June (affecting 34,000 prospective holidaymakers).

That's the last of your questions today. Many thanks to travel journalist and broadcaster Simon Calder for joining us to answer them.

Image source, Getty Images

The BBC understands that leading figures from the UK aviation sector will meet with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps this afternoon.

Earlier, Mr Shapps accusing the industry of overselling flights and holidays relative to its capacity to deliver them.

He said he planned to meet with airports, airlines and ground handlers to "find out what's gone wrong and how they are planning to end the current run of cancellations and delays".

Simon Calder
Travel journalist

That's an impossible thing to say, beyond the slightly unhelpful "when the airline tells you it's cancelled”. It might be weeks or months ahead, or while you are actually sitting on the plane ready to go.

Clearly, the more notice the better – though if the cancellation is less than two weeks ahead, the airline owes you compensation (unless it can demonstrate the reason was beyond its control, for example bad weather).

Image source, Susan Keith

Travellers are experiencing long queues for the London terminal of the Eurostar at St Pancras in central London.

Susan Keith, who took the photo above, said on Twitter the queues start outside and wrap about the building.

Eurostar customers also experienced disruption yesterday, which the train operator said was due to a train fault.

Image source, Rob Clarke

Image source, Getty Images

Travellers are being warned about major disruption on the Eurostar and at two international airports in Paris.

The Paris Airport authority, which manages Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, say software problems are impacting border controls and border checks, which could lead to delays.

Eurostar, which runs trains between London and Paris, issued a similar warning.

"Our stations are very busy today. Passport and security checks are taking longer than usual due to issues with French authority control systems," it said on Twitter.

Like the UK, airports on the continent have also struggled to cope with a post-pandemic surge in demand.

Simon Calder
Travel journalist

Robert Joseph asks: Is the air industry struggling with recruitment because they’re not paying enough in wages?

The short answer is yes, in the sense that if aviation wages were (say) doubled, then I imagine there would be little difficulty in finding staff.

But of course the challenge for airlines and airports is to make a living – and if staff costs soar then airports will raise charges and airlines will seek to put up fares, which sends passengers to rival carriers/airports or indeed persuades them to stay at home instead.

Image source, Getty Images

Who pays for your hotel if a return flight is cancelled?published at 13:12 British Summer Time 1 June 2022

13:12 BST 1 June 2022

Simon Calder
Travel journalist

What happens if your return flight from abroad is cancelled? Who pays for your hotel if you can’t get home? - Andrew Garland, Weston-super-Mare

Thousands of people have found themselves in this position – both those who are making independent arrangements, and find that they are among the victims of easyJet cancellations, and people on package holidays where flights and accommodation are sold together.

Whenever an airline cancels a flight, your entitlement is clear:

1. The cancelling carrier must get you to your destination on the original day of travel if at all possible – even if that involves paying for a ticket on a rival airline

2. If an overnight stay is required, the carrier must pay for a hotel and meals

3. If the cancellation is made within 14 days of departure, there is also a requirement to pay cash compensation (£220 for shorter flights, £350 for those over 1,500km).

Stating the rules is one thing but it’s clear that airlines aren’t always willing or able to help. All you can do is try to contact the airline and give it a chance to fix the problem, and if that doesn’t work - pay upfront (assuming you have a sufficient credit limit on your card) and claim back.

Image source, Nicola Davies

Nicola Davies and her family have spent 30 hours waiting for their flight to Turkey from Manchester Airport.

Initially arriving at the airport at 02:00 GMT, they queued for two hours before being told their flights had been delayed.

At 18:00 GMT they were offered a night in a hotel, to wait for flights the following day, or a refund.

"We decided at that point we were going to go home," Nicola tells Radio 5 Live.

"I'm absolutely devastated... this holiday has been rescheduled three times."

What are the worst airports and routes affected?published at 12:50 British Summer Time 1 June 2022

12:50 BST 1 June 2022

Simon Calder
Travel journalist

The key issues in the UK are at:

• Heathrow with with British Airways
• Gatwick with easyJet
• Manchester with Tui

But each airline/airport combination has specific problems and ways of dealing with it.

British Airways is cancelling many more flights than any other airline – typically 120 per day, short-haul domestic and European sectors. These cuts are made proactively, well ahead of departure. With weeks of notice, affected passengers can find alternative routes, while the grounded flights go off sale. The main impact is that the range of options are sharply reduced, and conversely fare levels rise significantly.

At Gatwick, easyJet has a similar problem of having promised a great deal in terms of flights this summer, and not having the resources to deliver the expansion. As from last weekend, easyJet is cancelling around 24 flights per day until next Monday at the earliest, but even then I am seeing on-the-day cancellations which are causing the most upset and expense – with people finding out only at the airport that they are grounded.

Manchester has had long queues for security for months – but these are actually getting shorter as a result of Tui's decision to ground 199 flights to holiday destinations up to the end of June.

The thinking behind cancelling a relatively small proportion of the total route is that by filling out the schedule, the ground operation – run by Swissport – should be able to cope with the remaining holidaymakers. So far that seems to be working.

Image source, Supplied

Liz Armstrong from Herefordshire is set to fly to Gran Canaria tomorrow with Tui and has heard nothing from the company yet.

Speaking to Radio 5 Live, she says the flight has been taken off the flight schedule on the TUI website, but is showing on the airport departures page.

"So it's showing on one page but not another and we haven't had a cancellation," she says, "but people on social media are saying they've received cancellations for the same flight."Liz has tried to phone TUI for confirmation on her holiday, but has been unable to get through to them.