Nearly 290,000 seats have been cut from bank holiday flight schedules in recent weeks, according to new analysis.

Aviation data company Cirium said around 900 flights due to depart from UK airports between Friday and Tuesday have been removed from schedules since the start of July.

Most of the cancellations were caused by staff shortages across the aviation industry, which has led to caps on operations at airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick.

Our aviation sector should be growing strongly on one of the busiest weekends of the year

This has disrupted the plans of millions of holidaymakers this summer and sparked a spike in air fares.

Cirium said the number of outbound flights over the August bank holiday period is 21% below 2019 levels.

British Airways has made the largest cut since July 1, with nearly 380 departures scrapped.

Flybe has removed more than 130 outbound flights from its schedules, while easyJet has axed around 90 flights.

The number of cancelled inbound flights between Friday and Tuesday is also around 900, meaning the total number of seats on aircraft serving UK airports is approximately 288,000 fewer than planned.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “It’s astonishing to see over a quarter of a million seats cut from flight schedules, at a time when demand to fly remains high.

“Some UK airports are continuing to impose caps on the numbers departing, so disrupting travel plans and forcing seat prices higher due to the squeeze on availability.

“Our aviation sector should be growing strongly on one of the busiest weekends of the year, and not held back by staff shortages and poor planning by airports and ground handlers.

“There are aircraft ready to be used but not enough people to get them prepared and off the ground.”