Holiday flights carnage as air traffic control staff threaten to walk out

...while delays hit Dover again

- Giles Sheldrick

THE summer holiday plans of hundreds of thousands of British families were thrown into chaos after European air traffic controllers threatened to strike.

Days before schools break up, Eurocontrol, the agency controlling continental airspace, said staff could walk out in a bitter dispute over pay and conditions.

The holiday hell could see 12,600 flights a day grounded and chaos at airports.

An industry source said: "In a full-blown strike, 20 to 30 per cent of flights would be at least delayed.

They are big numbers." Meanwhile, cross-Channel ferry customers faced two-hour waits at Dover yesterday because of delays by French border officials stamping British passports.

It echoed the chaos when passengers were stuck on coaches for more than 10 hours at the start of the Easter school holidays.

The latest getaway gridlock comes exactly a year after airports curbed July and August flight numbers over a lack of ground staff.

Many UK schools break up for six weeks from July 21, but the first round of air traffic industrial action could come as early as Monday.

Families were warned of another "challenging" summer with "overloaded" air traffic control leading to mass flight disruption.