British Airways has suspended the sale of tickets for short- and medium-haul flights from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) until Monday, August 8th. According to the airline, the action was taken in response to the airport management’s decision to limit the number of operations to alleviate problems caused by high travel demand and a shortage of staff to carry out operations.
The origins of the problem date back to the most restrictive periods during the pandemic, when many jobs were lost in the industry. Since the subsequent relaxation of measures and the gradual reopening of different economic activities, aviation has experienced a marked recovery. The process has been going on for several months now. However, the increase in demand was not met by a timely adaptation to provide the services according to schedule.
Many airlines and air terminals across Europe have been experiencing difficulties. The start of the summer season, one of the busiest periods of the year, added stress to the system. In this context, the UK’s largest airline also had to reschedule and cancel thousands of flights.
The company, which has laid off around ten thousand workers since the start of the pandemic, is now trying to recover staff in a transformed labour market. In the meantime, scheduling cuts are offered as the most viable alternative in the short term to avoid further complications. In this way, seats can be freed up for affected customers. Previously, the airline had already announced the cancellation of up to 10.300 flights between July and October.
“As a result of Heathrow’s request to limit new bookings, we have decided to take responsible action and limit the available fares on some Heathrow services to help maximise rebooking options for existing customers”, British Airways said in a press release.
A difficult summer for major European airports
The Londoner airport management’s decision is similar to that taken by the authorities at Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport (AMS), which asked airlines to limit the number of tickets sales during the holiday season. Since the beginning of the summer, there have been recurrent disruptions to baggage reclaim services and delays at security checkpoints, as at Heathrow.
The airport serving the Dutch capital was particularly affected by the situation. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which has its main base of operations there, said last month that it would take steps to try to “bring calm to the operation and reduce pressure on employees”. The airport’s main operator will cancel between ten and twenty flights a day to European destinations until August 28th.
In addition, ticket sales by KLM and its regional subsidiary KLM Cityhopper will be limited in order to prioritise the relocation of passengers whose flights are cancelled, in a very similar move to that announced today by British Airways.
