Heathrow’s caps on flights look set to continue until after the October half-term holiday, it has been reported.
The airport has told airlines it will have to keep limits on outbound and inbound flights until October 29 because of staff shortages and absences, reported the Telegraph. An airport spokesman said the cap will be kept under “constant review”.
Last week the hub set a daily 100,000 cap on departing passenger numbers for the remainder of the summer, to tackle the problems of cancellations caused by staff shortages. It said that the cap would last from July 12 to September 11.
More: Heathrow imposes cap on summer departures
The Telegraph said the airport will cap the number of aircraft “movements” – outbound and inbound flights – to 1,100 from July 11 to August 31; 1,150 from September 1 to September 30; and 1,200 from October 1 to October 29.
Before Covid, Heathrow had 1,350 movements a day.
News of the continuing curbs comes after the chairman of Heathrow attacked “slasher” airlines for failing to employ enough baggage handlers at the airport by paying higher wages.
Lord Paul Deighton wrote in the Telegraph: “For months we have been asking airlines to keep their ground handling resource in balance with demand. In the last few weeks, we have seen a shocking increase in planes departing without bags and passengers having their flights cancelled after they were already onboard.
“That’s why we stepped in and implemented a cap on departing passengers – just like Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Gatwick and many other airports around the world.
“This is the time when we should be investing to rebuild capacity as fast as possible so that we can give passengers the easy, quick and reliable journeys they deserve and are paying for. We need to be encouraging investors, not slashers, to make every passenger journey better so that we can rebuild the UK’s aviation sector.”
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy the PC Agency, said on Twitter: “Would you believe it? After criticising airlines for not having enough staff, @HeathrowAirport admits restrictions on flights are to continue until at least October half-term says @Telegraph – looks more like the airport is in turmoil to me.”
Would you believe it? After criticising airlines for not having enough staff, @HeathrowAirport admits restrictions on flights are to continue until at least October half-term says @Telegraph – looks more like the airport is in turmoil to me. @ThePCAgencyhttps://t.co/LyXd1XlGXB
— Paul Charles (@PPaulCharles) July 19, 2022