Britons are being warned there could Easter travel chaos after hundreds of UK flights were cancelled in recent days and traffic was expected to build in Kent as another P&O ferry was detained.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that travel networks will be “extremely busy” during the bank holiday weekend.

British Airways cancelled at least 53 flights planned for domestic or European routes to or from Heathrow on Wednesday, while easyJet cancelled 23 Gatwick flights.

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Drivers are also being warned to expect long queues on the UK’s major roads over the coming days.

The RAC has estimated around 21.5 million leisure trips will be made by car between Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Rail passengers are also being warned of Easter delays as Network Rail carries out 530 engineering projects costing a total of £83m.

This includes the closure of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes for four days from Good Friday due to upgrades of the existing line and HS2 work.

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Meanwhile, P&O Ferries suspended most of its sailings after it sacked nearly 800 seafarers without notice on 17 March, and replaced them with cheaper agency workers.

The company’s Spirit of Britain has been detained by Maritime and Coastguard Agency after “a number of deficiencies” were identified and another ship, Pride Of Kent, has remained under detention since 28 March.

On Wednesday, the Pride of Kent was further held following a failed inspection, likely scuppering the firm’s plans to run a service between Dover and Calais from Easter.

Stopping the ships from leaving port has massively reduced capacity for lorries and tourists crossing the Channel, leading to delays on the roads approaching the Port of Dover.

‘This weekend will be extremely busy’

Mr Shapps said the roads this weekend “will be extremely busy” and “potentially at our ports… particularly at Dover”.

Flight cancellations and long queues at airports such as Birmingham, Heathrow and Manchester have been blamed on difficulties recruiting new staff and the time it takes for their security checks to be processed, as well as increased levels of COVID-related illness.

British Airways decided last month it would reduce its schedule until the end of May to avoid the need to cancel flights at short notice.

It has focused on routes with multiple daily flights, meaning passengers can be offered alternative departures on the same day they booked.

EasyJet said cancellations are being made “in advance to give customers the ability to rebook on to alternative flights”.

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