Aer Lingus issue apology as more flights are cancelled

Covid-19 has continued to disrupt travel.

Aer Lingus has apologised to passengers as more flights have been cancelled due to Covid-19 related shortages. As RTÉ reports, the airline said in a statement this morning that 1% of its flights in June had been cancelled due to a recent Covid spike and an apology has been issued to those affected. Aer Lingus has also said that they are working on accommodating passengers who were affected by the cancellations. As well as Covid leading to cancellations, some flights won't go ahead due to the industrial action of air traffic controllers in a number of French airports, including Bordeaux and Lyon. Additionally, system pressures have played a role in the recent flight cancellations. 12 Aer Lingus flights departing from Dublin Airport were cancelled yesterday, and some flights to Zurich, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, London Gatwick, Brussels and Birmingham are cancelled today. Yesterday, travel expert Eoghan Corry spoke to Newstalk about the issue, and noted how over a quarter of the affected flights were cancelled within six hours of their scheduled departure. "The real problem, I did a count today, 27 per cent of the flights cancelled within the last week in Dublin Airport were within six hours, so that's a big problem when passengers are already in the airport," Mr Corry said. "I'm expecting to see less of that going forward." Ireland's Minister for Transport Eamonn Ryan addressed the travel disruption on Morning Ireland yesterday, and described recent weeks as a "very difficult time in aviation". He said: "Covid has disrupted everything. Both in terms of getting staff back, but also now staff being out with Covid. "We will have to work our way through a very difficult period but I’m convinced particularly with the help of the Defence Forces now in the airport, we can and will do that."