Simon Calder

“Eurostar currently dominates the route, carrying around 80% of traffic between London and Paris, according to Calder.”

“passengers booking close to their departure date can routinely face fares of more than £200 one way.”

“some tourists could lose thousands of pounds.”

“You pay hundreds or thousands of pounds upfront but you only actually take delivery when you turn up at the airport and hope that your trip is going ahead.”

“A Mediterranean holiday or a flight to Los Angeles at a far lower price than you see elsewhere, well that could be somebody about to steal your hard earned dream as well as your money.”

“He advised to simply pay for the trip with a credit card as it is easier to get your money back from a bank provider.”

“Once you've told your bank make a transfer of your money then that's the last you've seen of it.”

“roughly 40,000 passengers 'stranded'”

“It has been a miserable Saturday for 30,000 or more passengers on British Airways to and from London Heathrow and EasyJet in and out of Gatwick.”

“BA's cancelled around 100, including an Airbus superjumbo going to and from Los Angeles. EasyJet has cancelled 82, including some really long ones to Hurghada in Egypt and also Antalya in Turkey.”

“200+ flights cancelled today on British Airways to/from Heathrow and on easyJet to/from Gatwick, with 35,000 passengers stranded.”

“(It) follows more than 200 grounded flights on Saturday (and) brings the number of passengers whose flights have been cancelled this weekend to around 40,000.”