Lines of passenger luggage line up outside Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport in London, Britain, June 19, 2022. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo
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- The airport says the restriction will limit disruption to passengers
- Up to 125,000 departed daily in the summer of 2019
- The restriction will last until September 11
LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) – London’s Heathrow Airport said it would limit departing passengers to 100,000 a day this summer to curb queues, baggage delays and cancellations, and asked airlines to stop selling flight tickets , which can be limited.
Britain’s busiest airport, like others across Europe, is struggling to cope with the post-pandemic recovery in demand. Heathrow had between 110,000 and 125,000 passengers per day in July and August 2019.
Heathrow’s airlines had already responded to the government’s call to reduce capacity, but the airport said it needed them to go further.
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“Some airlines have taken significant action, but others have not, and we believe further action is now needed to ensure passengers have a safe and reliable journey,” CEO John Holland-Kaye said in an open letter on Tuesday.
“That’s why we’ve taken the difficult decision to introduce a capacity limit that will take effect from July 12 to September 11.”
“We understand that this will mean that some summer journeys will either be moved to another day, another airport or canceled and we apologize to those whose travel plans are affected,” he added.
The London hub said the cap was in line with restrictions put in place by its rivals. Schiphol in the Netherlands has capped passenger numbers around 16% below 2019 levels, while Frankfurt has cut peak-hour flights from 104 per hour to 94.
Heathrow said the average number of outbound seats still remaining in the summer timetable was 104,000 per day, with 4,000 over the cap. He said an average of 1,500 of those 4,000 seats were sold to passengers.
“We are asking our partner airlines to stop selling flight tickets to limit the impact on passengers,” he said.
British Airways ( ICAG.L ), Heathrow’s biggest customer, has already cut thousands of flights from its schedules this summer due to staff shortages.
Heathrow on Monday apologized for the long queues and baggage problems customers have experienced in recent weeks, blaming staff shortages across the aviation sector. Read more
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Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Aditya Soni, William James and David Evans
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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