Flight cancellations at short notice, lost luggage, delays: the staff shortage has a firm grip on London’s Heathrow Airport. To remedy this, a passenger limit will be introduced at peak travel times. A maximum of 100,000 passengers a day are to be handled in the future.
Due to staff shortages, London’s Heathrow Airport wants to limit the number of departing passengers to 100,000 per day during the summer holiday period. The measure applies until September 11, England’s busiest airport announced today. Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye called on the airlines to stop selling tickets for this period.
According to Holland-Kaye, there are some crucial functions at the airport that are understaffed, particularly ground handling. For example, the companies in question lack employees at check-in or baggage handling. “With regularly more than 100,000 passengers a day on departures, we have had phases in which the service has slipped below an acceptable level,” wrote the Heathrow boss. These included long waits, delays for vulnerable passengers, lost luggage, delays and last-minute flight cancellations. “Some airlines have reduced capacity while others have not and we believe further steps are now needed.”
Like other airports in Europe, London Airport is suffering from a shortage of staff, while demand for air travel is picking up again after the Corona crisis. In July and August 2019, Heathrow was handling between 110,000 and 125,000 departing passengers per day. Now the airport can only handle 100,000 a day smoothly, Heathrow said. However, the average capacity of the remaining seats in the summer departure schedule is 4,000 more than this limit at 104,000 per day. Heathrow Airport ordered airlines to cancel dozens of flights due to congestion on Monday.
At the request of Reuters, Europe’s largest airline, Lufthansa, said that in addition to the cancellations already announced for July and August, it was planning further flight plan adjustments. “In this way, Lufthansa has made a noticeable contribution to relieving the burden on airports, including London Heathrow.”
