Queues Build In Dover As Easter Travel Chaos Begins

Passport checks, rail works and strikes set to cause delays

- Simon Calder

Britons are facing travel chaos this weekend with flights grounded, trains cancelled and traffic already building up at Dover as the Easter weekend getaway begins. The four days between Good Friday to Easter Monday are expected to be the busiest since 2019, with post-Brexit passport checks, railway works and strikes in France all set to cause delays for travellers.

For many, it will be a repeat of the disruption faced last Easter that was hit by airport staff shortages and cross-Channel holdups.

The mayhem began yesterday morning when French protesters blocked roads at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, forcing passengers to walk. In Dover, holidaymakers booked on cross-channel ferries faced queues of 90 minutes for passport checks by French officials due to a “high volume” of traffic, although waiting times eased later in the day.

The strike in France – over president Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms – is set to cause widespread disruption for the rest of the weekend, with Air France, easyJet and Ryanair among the airlines forced to cancel flights when air traffic controllers joined the walkout. Dozens of British Airways flights have also been axed to deal with the security staff walkout at London Heathrow.

Elsewhere, drivers are being warned to expect long delays on popular routes over the coming days, with the RAC predicting that vehicle speeds could be reduced to just 12mph at some points today. The M25, M5 and A303, as well as the M20 and A20 to Dover, are among the roads expected to be worst hit.

Eurostar also cancelled trains between London and Paris yesterday because of the national strike, while widespread engineering work will begin across the UK today, disrupting services until Easter Sunday.