THE United Kingdom national carrier, British Airways has announced another round of cancellations, axing 10,000 flights to and from the Heathrow Airport until the end of March 2023, as it adjust to the persistent staff shortages that have hit aviation.
The airline’s decision to reduce its short-haul timetable by eight percent comes after the London airport extended the summer’s 100,000 daily cap on passenger numbers by another six weeks until the end of October this year and asked airlines to sell fewer flights.
With the carrier expecting to cater to an average of 290 round-trips per day from London Heathrow during the winter, the affected flights, which will be rescheduled, cancelled or diverted to another airline, will reduce the airline operation.
The move, according to the airline, is aimed at minimising disruption over the winter and some long-haul flights will also be affected, adding that it will also cut a dozen round-trips per day – totalling 629 flights – until the end of October.
Given the airline’s staff shortage, and the industry experiencing difficulty in hiring, BA the during the summer in the UK, had also cut 30,000 flights, as attending to passengers proved difficult, the BBC said.
Aside from British Airways, the airport itself has been struggling with passenger attendance, which has surged since COVID-19 lockdown was lifted. Long queues had been witnessed in returning section due to baggage handling systems.
In a statement released, the carrier said that the impact on its customers will be minimal, as “Customers booked for winter will be able to travel as planned and are being given several months’ notice of any changes.”
Recall that Heathrow, which is BA’s main hub, has capped passenger numbers flying from the airport due to staff shortages. It has struggled to cope with rising passenger numbers and issues with its baggage handling systems caused long delays in returning luggage.
British Airways is the largest operator at Heathrow, and earlier this month, it suspended sales of tickets on short-haul flights from the airport for two weeks. This is to avoid exceeding its share of the airport’s 100,000 per day passenger limit.
Meanwhile, the cap was due to end on September 11 but was recently extended until October 29. Announcing the extension, Heathrow said that the cap had worked, resulting in fewer last minute cancellations and delays, and better baggage delivery.
British aviation consultant, John Strickland, told BBC, “the amount of flights cut appeared to be a very negligible amount in the context of what they would plan to operate. At this point they are likely to inconvenience very few people and I wouldn’t expect any noticeable impact on price.”
