Thomas Cook Airlines UK (Manchester International) has abandoned plans to begin a twice weekly London Gatwick-Reno/Tahoe service from December onwards citing inadequate US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) manpower.
In a statement, the leisure carrier said that even though the CBP had increased the number of staff tending to the Nevadan airport terminal, the overall manpower available was still not enough to process a full A330-200 in reasonable time.
"Our customers are likely to still receive substantial delays of at least three hours to clear U.S. Customs," airline spokesman Nick Sandham said. "Such inconvenience for our customers and the impact on our fleet and operation that would take place in accepting these delays means that we are unable to operate the route at present."
Thomas Cook had partnered Ski Lake Tahoe in offering the service which was to have run from from December 19, 2015 until April 9, 2016.
