London’s Heathrow Airport, Britain’s main “hub”, announced on Monday, August 15, that it will extend the limit on the number of departing passengers until the end of October, which was initially planned until the beginning of September. Like other British and European airports, Heathrow is struggling to absorb demand for flights, largely due to staff shortages, and announced in early July that it would limit the number of departing passengers to 100,000 a day, or 4,000 less, for two months. his prediction.
“Capacity limits at Heathrow will be extended at the same level until October 29 after consultation with airlines“, the airport announced in a press release on Monday, adding that they noted.since the cap was introduced (…) fewer last-minute cancellations, better punctuality and shorter baggage waiting times“.
Canceled flights and baggage delivery issues
British airlines and airports, which laid off thousands of jobs at the height of the pandemic, are now struggling to recruit, which has caused cancellations, delays, long queues or baggage delivery problems since the start of the year. Along with the restrictions imposed by Heathrow, companies such as British Airways, Wizz Air or easyJet, in turn, have recently canceled thousands of flights to phase out their plans with reduced capacity. British Airways has thus cut its services by 13% during the summer season, and the company also temporarily suspended ticket sales for its short-haul flights at its base at Heathrow in early August.
Heathrow clarified on Monday that the restrictions could be lifted sooner if it sees a marked improvement in the situation.particularly at the level of ground staff of some airlines, which remains a major limitation of airport capacity;“. Heathrow is not the only airport to be limited by capacity. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, for example, one of Europe’s busiest, has also been limiting passenger numbers since July, a measure that will remain in place until at least October. Schiphol has also suffered significant disruption in recent months due to staff shortages and announced on Friday that it would compensate passengers who missed flights due to huge queues at its terminals.
Source: Le Figaro
