Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the delays and cancellations experienced by passengers at (1) airports, and (2) ports, in the UK.

The aviation industry operates in the private sector, therefore it is the responsibility of the industry to manage demand, recruit and roster staff and have appropriate mitigations in place.

The Secretary of State and Minister for Aviation have made clear to the industry that the level of disruption that aviation passengers have faced is unacceptable and cannot be repeated.

Since the beginning of the year, Ministers and Officials have and will continue to extensively engage with the sector to gain a greater understanding of the issues facing the industry. We have taken action in a range of areas, including security alleviations, skills, recruitment and consumer rights to support the aviation industry. On 21 June the Government laid regulations before Parliament that will give airlines a one-off “amnesty” on airport slots rules, allowing them to hand back slots ahead of the summer peak. This will give airlines a short window to hand back slots for the rest of the summer season that they are not confident they will be able to operate.

The Department has established a Strategic Risk Group that meets weekly and Chaired by the Aviation Minister and attended by industry CEOs. This group holds industry to account for delivering a robust service working jointly with them were appropriate to deliver solutions. In support there is a senior officials Summer Resilience Group chaired by DfT with Home Office and industry operational leaders, and a Task and Finish group to support information and communications for consumers.

The Aviation Minister also regularly engages with Minister Hinds, Minister of State and Security to address possible issues at the border, jointly hosting an aviation industry roundtable 12 May providing industry with a comprehensive update from Border Force on their preparations.

The Department and Civil Aviation Authority jointly wrote to the aviation industry 14 June to outline the five priorities for minimising further disruption over the summer. These being that airlines must review schedules to make sure that they are deliverable, that everyone in the sector must collaborate on resilience planning, that passengers are informed of their consumer rights and if necessary compensated in good time, that assistance to disabled and less mobile passengers is to a high standard and that safety and security must never be compromised.

The Department recognises that there are always significant numbers of passengers at peak time departing from Dover by ferry to the Continent and Officials continue to work closely with the Port of Dover and the ferry operators to ensure that passengers face minimal delays in boarding, as well as with the Kent Resilience Forum planning in order to ensure that the right traffic management arrangements are applied.