The great British getaway is turning into a fiscal farce. Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, never one for understatement, has issued a stark warning: arrive at the airport three hours early or miss your flight. This is not a suggestion.
It is a symptom of a system buckling under its own weight. The market for air travel is booming, yet the infrastructure is a bottleneck of biblical proportions. Passengers are being asked to absorb the cost of inefficiency in time and stress.
This is a classic case of supply side failure. The government blames Brexit, the unions blame staff shortages, and the airlines blame everyone else. Meanwhile, the invisible hand is giving us a rather rude gesture.
Holidaymakers are left holding the bag, queuing for hours, spending more on overpriced airport coffee than on their actual tickets. This is the price of regulatory drag and labour market friction. Until we see meaningful reform in airport capacity and border control, the only sensible hedge is to arrive at the gate with a book, a snack, and a healthy dose of cynicism.
The bottom line: your holiday starts with a stress test.
