Thousands of holidaymakers face continuing delays at Gatwick Airport despite the end of the Spanish coach drivers' strike.

Hold-ups are expected to last for another two days because of the knock-on effect of the strike in the Balearic Islands.

Hundreds of passengers who should have boarded flights on Saturday were still waiting to leave today.

An Airtours flight from Gatwick to Palma, Majorca, which should have left at 10.10pm on Saturday was now scheduled to leave at 11.30pm tonight, a delay of 49 hours 20 minutes.

A spokeswoman said once passengers had been delayed more than 24 hours they could have a full refund or receive assistance with booking another holiday.

The 72-hour strike, which ended at midnight, caused chaos for thousands of British Travellers going to and from Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza, with delays averaging five hours.

Gatwick Airport says the situation is no longer deteriorating but it will take until tomorrow night for operations can get back to normal.

Passengers who flew into the sunshine isles of Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza yesterday queued for up to three hours for taxis to their apartments.

Those waiting for flights home were also delayed, some by up to 12 hours.

Flights to all holiday destinations are affected and some aircraft have been left stranded because their crew have exceeded working hours regulations.

One of the two flights suffering the longest delays was due out this morning to Cyprus, 24 hours late.

Terminal manager Glen Adams said: "We are expecting delays of up to six hours on some flights today but the majority are expected to be two to four hours. We are asking passengers to check in at the normal time."

Gatwick terminal operations manager Dennis Teague said: "All the passengers are aware of what is causing the problems and aware there is not much we can do until flights come in from Spain."

Inspector Paul Drake of Sussex Police said his officers had been trying to calm down passengers as tempers flared.

He said: "There have been no arrests and no fights have broken out. We try not to arrest in these situations because we sympathise with the passengers. It is understandable under the circumstances that a few people will get a little angry.

"They have been getting upset and wanting information and a bit more concrete information than the flight operators can give them."

But he added: "People are being generally good natured because they realise it is not a Gatwick Airport problem which cannot be solved at this end."

One woman from Hove, who escaped the mayhem in Ibiza yesterday by hiring a car, said: "The airport in Ibiza was like a refugee camp and that is no joke.

"People were having to get taxis more than 12 hours before their check in times.

"They were camping out on grass, on the streets and all over the place and there were kiddies sat around on lilos which had been handed out and they were looking miserable. It was chaos."

There have been fears that the strike could be extended indefinitely or resumed on weekends later in the summer. But sources in the region told the Federation of Tour Operators, which represents 90 per cent of the UK market, that a deal had been agreed which meant the problem would not recur.

Travellers at Gatwick's North Terminal escaped disruption despite Air France announcing that some weekend flights could be delayed because of a strike by flight attendants.

The CGT, one of the unions representing flight attendants, called the four-day strike to press for salary increases and bonuses, but all Air France flights out of Gatwick were running smoothly during the weekend.