LONDON: LondonHeathrow’s Heathrow said it will limit passenger departures to 100,000 per day this summer to limit queues, baggage delays and cancellations, and ask airlines to stop selling tickets for flights Flights may be cut.
Britain’s busiest airport, like others across Europe, is struggling to cope as demand picks up again in the wake of the pandemic. Heathrow has between 110,000 and 125,000 passengers departing daily in July and August 2019.
Airlines at Heathrow have responded to the government’s call for capacity cuts, but the airport has said they need them to go further.
Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “Some airlines have taken significant action, others have not, and we believe that further action is needed to ensure coverage. customers have a safe and reliable journey”.
“As a result, we have made the difficult decision to introduce a capacity cap effective from July 12 to September 11.”
“We recognize that this means some summer itineraries will be moved to other dates, different airports or cancelled, and we apologize to those whose travel plans have been affected,” he said. more.
Central London said the limit was in line with those made in its rivals. Schiphol in Netherlands capped passenger numbers about 16% below 2019 levels, while Frankfurt cut peak-hour flights from 104 flights per hour to 94 flights.
Heathrow said the average number of outgoing seats still on the summer schedule was 104,000 a day, 4,000 above the norm. It said an average of 1,500 of these 4,000 seats were sold to passengers.
“We are asking our airline partners to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers,” he said.
British Airways, Heathrow’s biggest customer, has cut thousands of flights from its schedule this summer due to staff shortages.
Heathrow on Monday apologized for the long queues and baggage problems customers have suffered in recent weeks, blaming staff shortages across the entire airline sector.
Britain’s busiest airport, like others across Europe, is struggling to cope as demand picks up again in the wake of the pandemic. Heathrow has between 110,000 and 125,000 passengers departing daily in July and August 2019.
Airlines at Heathrow have responded to the government’s call for capacity cuts, but the airport has said they need them to go further.
Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “Some airlines have taken significant action, others have not, and we believe that further action is needed to ensure coverage. customers have a safe and reliable journey”.
“As a result, we have made the difficult decision to introduce a capacity cap effective from July 12 to September 11.”
“We recognize that this means some summer itineraries will be moved to other dates, different airports or cancelled, and we apologize to those whose travel plans have been affected,” he said. more.
Central London said the limit was in line with those made in its rivals. Schiphol in Netherlands capped passenger numbers about 16% below 2019 levels, while Frankfurt cut peak-hour flights from 104 flights per hour to 94 flights.
Heathrow said the average number of outgoing seats still on the summer schedule was 104,000 a day, 4,000 above the norm. It said an average of 1,500 of these 4,000 seats were sold to passengers.
“We are asking our airline partners to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers,” he said.
British Airways, Heathrow’s biggest customer, has cut thousands of flights from its schedule this summer due to staff shortages.
Heathrow on Monday apologized for the long queues and baggage problems customers have suffered in recent weeks, blaming staff shortages across the entire airline sector.
