Tui is cutting flights from Manchester airport over the next month in the face of staff shortages which have led to delays and cancellations.
As many as six flights a day will reportedly be cancelled until the end of June affecting up to 37,000 holidaymakers.
The decision came amid growing anger over flight disruption ahead of the extended Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend and prior to the summer peak.
A Manchester airport spokesperson said: “Over the last few days Tui and its appointed ground handler, Swissport, have experienced significant challenges with their check-in and baggage reclaim operations at Manchester airport.
“From extensive discussions with the Tui and Swissport management teams, it is clear that they are experiencing temporary staff shortages, in common with other aviation and travel companies.
“Given these challenges, we understand Tui’s difficult decision to cancel a number of services over the course of the next month, although we are obviously disappointed to see passengers’ plans disrupted in this way.
“We will continue to work with Tui, Swissport and other partners to give passengers the best possible service as the travel sector builds back to full strength after the pandemic.
“In the meantime, we continue to advise passengers to arrive three hours before their flight and to be as prepared as they can be for their journey through the airport.”
A Tui spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise to our customers who have experienced flight disruption in recent days and understand that they have been looking forward to these holidays for a long time.
“The May half-term holidays are always an incredibly busy period with many customers looking to get away, and this year is no different.
“Unfortunately, due to ongoing challenges in our operation, we have had to announce a small number of planned cancellations between now and 30 June from Manchester airport only. We are directly contacting all impacted customers in departure date order and they will automatically receive a full refund.
“We can reassure our customers that the remainder of our flying programme is expected to operate as planned.
“We’d like to apologise again for the inconvenience caused and we thank customers for their understanding and patience during this time.”