London’s Heathrow airport, the main British hub, announced on Monday that it would extend a limit on the number of departing passengers until the end of October, initially planned until the beginning of September. Like other British and European airports, Heathrow is struggling to absorb the surge in demand, mainly due to a lack of staff, and announced in early July that it would limit passenger departures to 100,000 a day for two months, or 4,000. less than your forecast.
“After consultation with airlines, capacity limits at Heathrow will be extended at the same level until October 29,” the airport said in a statement on Monday, adding that it had seen “since the introduction of the limit (… ) fewer last-minute cancellations, better punctuality and shorter waiting times for luggage.”
British airlines and airports, which had laid off thousands of people at the height of the pandemic, are now struggling to recruit, leading to cancellations, delays, long queues or problems with baggage deliveries. Along with the limits imposed by Heathrow, companies such as British Airways, Wizz Air or Easyjet have recently canceled thousands of flights to stagger their programs with their reduced capacities.
Same in Amsterdam
British Airways has thus reduced its services by 13% during the summer season and the company had also temporarily suspended the sale of tickets for its short flights at Heathrow, its base, in early August. Heathrow said on Monday that restrictions could be lifted sooner if it sees a significant improvement in the situation, “particularly with regard to certain airlines’ ground staff, which remains a major constraint on airport capacity.”
Heathrow is not the only airport that limits its capacity. Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, for example, one of the busiest in Europe, has also limited the number of passengers since July, a measure that will continue until at least October. Schiphol has also experienced significant disruption in recent months due to a lack of staff and announced on Friday that it will compensate passengers who missed flights due to huge queues at its terminals.
Source: BFM TV
