London Heathrow Airport, the main British "hub", announced on Monday August 15 that it would extend its limitation on the number of departing passengers until the end of October, initially scheduled until the beginning of September.
Like other British and European airports, Heathrow is struggling to absorb the take-off in demand, mainly due to a lack of staff, and announced in early July that it would limit departing passengers to 100,000 per day for two months, or 4,000 less than his forecast.
“
After consultation with the 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 cap (... ) fewer last minute cancellations, better punctuality and shorter waiting times for baggage
”.
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Canceled flights and baggage delivery issues
Baggage delivery problems affect London-Heathrow airport this summer.
(here, July 8, 2022.) Paul ELLIS / AFP
British airlines and airports, which had laid off thousands of people at the height of the pandemic, are now struggling to recruit, which has caused cancellations, delays, long queues since the start of the year or baggage delivery problems.
Alongside the limits imposed by Heathrow, companies such as British Airways, Wizz Air or easyJet have for their part recently canceled thousands of flights to phase their programs with their reduced capacities.
British Airways has thus reduced its services by 13% during the summer season and the company had also temporarily suspended ticket sales for its short flights at Heathrow, its base, in early August.
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Heathrow clarified on Monday that the restrictions could be lifted sooner if it sees a significant improvement in the situation, "
particularly with regard to the ground staff of certain airlines, which remains a main constraint on the capacity of the airport
".
Heathrow is not the only airport to limit its capacity.
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, for example, one of the busiest in Europe, has also capped passenger numbers since July, a measure that will be maintained at least until October.
Schiphol has also experienced major disruption in recent months due to a lack of staff and announced on Friday that it would compensate passengers who missed flights due to huge queues.
