Airline Transavia is cancelling a further 42 flights between now and Sunday because of a shortage of aircraft, bringing problems for thousands more passengers.

The KLM subsidiary has already been forced to cancel dozens of flights over the past few weeks, stranding some passengers at their holiday destinations.

The new cancellations involve 21 return flights to southern Europe from Schiphol, Eindhoven and Rotterdam airports.

The flights have total capacity for some 8,000 passengers.

Transavia blames problems with maintenance and slow delivery times for its capacity problems. In particular, three new planes are being delivered later than planned.

The airline says it has not been able to find alternative flights for everyone who has been affected.