Terminal 2 at London’s Heathrow Airport
The CEO of London’s Heathrow Airport said that the aerodrome would limit the number of passengers it accepts through mid-September, citing significant staff shortages that have led to long lines, lost baggage, flight cancellations, and significant delays.
In a letter published on Tuesday, John Holland-Kaye told airlines to stop selling new tickets to reduce the strain on the airport as the industry continues to recover from the first two years of the pandemic.
Holland-Kaye cited the current issues, which include “periodic service drops,” “long queue lines,” and a level of service “that is not acceptable.”
As a result, “[W]e have therefore made the difficult decision to introduce a capacity cap with effect from 12 July to 11 September.”
The service cap will reduce the number of daily passengers from an estimated 104,000 to a more manageable 100,000 and Holland-Kaye asked airlines to bring numbers back to under the 100,000 cap.
“We recognize that this will mean some summer journeys will either be moved to another day, another airport or be canceled, and we apologize to those whose travel plans are affected,” he wrote in the letter.
A sticking point is that the scheme has to be voluntary as the airport has no authority to mandate the cuts in flights.
The airport coordinator, an independent company, Airport Coordination Limited, will calculate the required reduction in passengers for each airline and present it to the airlines, which will in turn decide which flights to cancel or whether to comply with the request or not.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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