TRAVELLERS setting off for the May Bank Holiday getaway were hit with delays – ahead of a nightmare weekend of railway engineering works.
Manchester Airport descended into chaos yesterday as baggage handling problems forced passengers to queue into the Terminal 1 car park.
It was the busiest day of the year for UK airports with more than 3,000 departures, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.
And more than 1.5million people are set to jet off on 8,486 flights between Saturday and Monday.
Trains face disruption too as Network Rail plans to carry out 487 projects between Saturday and Monday – as commuters brace for more strikesnext week.
No services will run between London Euston and Milton Keynes or Glasgow and England on Sunday when a new track replaces the West Coast Main Line.
Rail chaos is also expected in Cambridge, Coventry and Liverpool before members of train drivers union Aslef launch a six-day overtime ban from Monday.
Meanwhile, long delays are expected on the roads as the RAC predicts 16 million motorists will make a leisure trip by car between Friday and Monday.
Drivers are urged to avoid congestion by travelling before 9am or after 5pm – with parts of the North West, East Anglia and South West hit hardest on Monday.