Image Source: Gazette NGR
Heathrow Airport has apologized to travelers who had to change their plans because of the recent problem, but it has also warned that more plane cancellations may happen this summer.
In an effort to meet the surge in demand, the UK’s busiest airport has also requested that 61 flights be cancelled on Monday. It is Heathrow’s most recent “schedule intervention.”
John Holland-Kaye, the executive director of Heathrow, said the airport would ask for “additional action as needed.”
Tens of thousands of travelers have been inconvenienced recently by delays and flight cancellations at UK airports as the sector battles to fill open positions after losing workers due to COVID lockdowns.
Easter, the Platinum Jubilee, and the school break were the worst times for the issue.
In a letter sent to carriers this month, the government and the aviation regulator urged them to make sure their summer schedules were “deliverable.”
In recent weeks, Heathrow has apologized to passengers who had “long wait times, delays for those with limited mobility, bags not traveling with passengers, or late arrivals.”
Still, it said that most passengers got good service, even though the airport, airlines, ground handlers, and government organizations had limited resources.
Heathrow airport said that it has asked for 61 flights to be taken off the schedule for Monday because Terminals 3 and 5 are expected to have more people than the airport can handle right now.
Previous “schedule interventions” have taken place as a result of issues with a baggage system and because there were more anticipated passengers than there was capacity for security personnel.
According to Heathrow, the airport saw close to six million visitors in June.
Because of the pandemic, thousands of jobs were lost and the aviation industry ground to a halt. Since then, the whole industry has struggled to get back on its feet.
Airlines are attempting to operate nearly as many flights as they did before to COVID now that travel has resumed, but they are having trouble rehiring staff.
Read Also: Heathrow Airport flight cancellations cause queues and chaos
Cirium, an aviation data company, says that there were 188% more last-minute flight cancellations from the UK in June 2022 than in June 2019 before the pandemic.
In a letter sent to airlines last month, the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority requested that they cancel any flights that they would be unable to fulfill this summer.
British Airways announced last week that it was removing 10,300 additional short-haul flights from its schedule between August and the end of October.
The most recent announcement, which affects the airports at Heathrow, Gatwick, and City, means that between April and October this year, approximately 30,000 flights will have been dropped from BA’s timetable.
During the busy summer season, several airlines have also issued cancellations.
Low price The European airline Wizz Air has announced that it will scale back its busy summer flight schedule in an effort to prevent cancellations and delays. The Hungarian airline announced that it would reduce its capacity by an additional 5%.
Industry executives have pushed the government to grant them permission to hire people from other countries as a potential solution to the staffing crisis.
