https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/07/12/heathrow-tells-all-airlines-to-stop-selling-any-flights-until-11th-september/ Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points * About * Media & Advertising http://HFP-Wordmark-Black http://HFP-Wordmark-Blue http:// HFP-Wordmark-Black http://HFP-Wordmark-Blue Menu Search [ ] Get a 50,000 Avios bonus with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard! 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A list of partners is here. The Summer air travel situation took a surprising turn when Heathrow effectively stopped airlines from selling any further seats for flights this Summer. In an open letter, Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said that the airport had realised that it was, effectively, no longer possible for it to offer the level of service available this Summer and that something had to give. This is especially true for ground handling staff which are still chronically below the number required. Heathrow tells BA (and other airlines) to stop selling tickets for the Summer period Kaye's solution is to cap Heathrow passenger numbers at 100,000 per day for the Summer period, which they are specifying as ending on 11th September. This would be fine, except that airlines have already sold an avereage of 101,500 tickets per day and seats are still on sale. Effectively immediately, Heathrow has requested: * the closure for sale of all flights departing from the airport until 11th September * a reduction in the current passenger cap from 101,500 to 100,000 Whilst airlines are not legally bound to follow this, Heathrow will respond by forcing airlines to cancel additional flights if they not do so. One way or another, only 100,000 people per day are flying from the airport this Summer. Whilst not discussed in this letter, the airport is also believed to be considering restrictions on checked luggage and, as it did yesterday for same-day rebooking, banning airlines from rebooking passengers whose flights are cancelled, since this does not nothing to reduce passenger numbers in total. Heathrow tells BA (and other airlines) to stop selling tickets for the Summer period Here is the full statement: "The global aviation industry is recovering from the pandemic, but the legacy of COVID continues to pose challenges for the entire sector as it rebuilds capacity. At Heathrow, we have seen 40 years of passenger growth in just four months. Despite this, we managed to get the vast majority of passengers away smoothly on their journeys through the Easter and half term peaks. This was only possible because of close collaboration and planning with our airport partners including airlines, airline ground handlers and Border Force. "We started recruiting back in November last year in anticipation of capacity recovering this summer, and by the end of July, we will have as many people working in security as we had pre-pandemic. We have also reopened and moved 25 airlines into Terminal 4 to provide more space for passengers and grown our passenger service team. "New colleagues are learning fast but are not yet up to full speed. However, there are some critical functions in the airport which are still significantly under resourced, in particular ground handlers, who are contracted by airlines to provide check-in staff, load and unload bags and turnaround aircraft. They are doing the very best they can with the resources available and we are giving them as much support possible, but this is a significant constraint to the airport's overall capacity. "However, over the past few weeks, as departing passenger numbers have regularly exceeded 100,000 a day, we have started to see periods when service drops to a level that is not acceptable: long queue times, delays for passengers requiring assistance, bags not travelling with passengers or arriving late, low punctuality and last-minute cancellations. This is due to a combination of reduced arrivals punctuality (as a result of delays at other airports and in European airspace) and increased passenger numbers starting to exceed the combined capacity of airlines, airline ground handlers and the airport. Our colleagues are going above and beyond to get as many passengers away as possible, but we cannot put them at risk for their own safety and wellbeing. "Last month, the DfT and CAA wrote to the sector asking us all to review our plans for the summer and ensure we were prepared to manage expected passenger levels safely and minimise further disruption. Ministers subsequently implemented a slot amnesty programme to encourage airlines to remove flights from their schedules with no penalty. We held off putting additional controls on passenger numbers until this amnesty process concluded last Friday and we had a clearer view of the reductions that airlines have made. "Some airlines have taken significant action, but others have not, and we believe that further action is needed now to ensure passengers have a safe and reliable journey. We have therefore made the difficult decision to introduce a capacity cap with effect from 12 July to 11 September. Similar measures to control passenger demand have been implemented at other airports both in the UK and around the world. "Our assessment is that the maximum number of daily departing passengers that airlines, airline ground handlers and the airport can collectively serve over the summer is no more than 100,000. The latest forecasts indicate that even despite the amnesty, daily departing seats over the summer will average 104,000 - giving a daily excess of 4,000 seats. On average only about 1,500 of these 4,000 daily seats have currently been sold to passengers, and so we are asking our airline partners to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers. "By making this intervention now, our objective is to protect flights for the vast majority of passengers at Heathrow this summer and to give confidence that everyone who does travel through the airport will have a safe and reliable journey and arrive at their destination with their bags. We recognise that this will mean some summer journeys will either be moved to another day, another airport or be cancelled and we apologise to those whose travel plans are affected. "The airport will still be busy, as we are trying to get as many people away as possible, and we ask you to bear with us if it takes a little longer to check in, go through security or collect your bag than you are used to at Heathrow. We ask passengers to help, by making sure they have completed all their COVID requirements online before they come to the airport, by not arriving earlier than 3 hours before their flight, by being ready for security with laptops out of bags and liquids, aerosols and gels in a sealed 100ml plastic bag, and by using e-gates in immigration where eligible. We are all recruiting as fast as we can and aim to return to the excellent service you should expect from the UK's hub airport as soon as possible." Category General Share this article * Twitter * Facebook * LinkedIn * Today's top stories * Top credit card deals Virgin Atlantic A330neo The Retreat Suite REVEALED! 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Please enter standard IATA airport codes, for example "LGW" for London Gatwick See a whole year at SeatSpy.com From [ ] To [ ] Seats [1] (*) BA ( ) Virgin Atlantic [Search] Comments (163) * OLDER * 1 * ... * 4 * 5 * 6 * [68c] [68cb0089c2]Andrew P says: 12 Jul12 July 19:51 Maybe heathrow should be told to use all the security cleared airside staff currently in the shops and bars to assist with the critical roles like baggage, security, passenger assistance and other similar roles. That would focus their minds with no revenue from shops! Reply + [e50] [e507a7a6aa]Brian78 says: 12 Jul12 July 23:12 The shop staff aren't employed by the airport so that's not even remotely a realistic option (although you probably weren't being serious) Reply + [e25] [e25acfa1e9]Peter says: 12 Jul12 July 23:45 There are different types of clearances, restaurants bring more money than luggage handling, and also these ppl need training so not a quick fix solution. Not to mention comment above they're different companies and waiter getting minimum salary + decent tips won't bother switching to handling luggage, or perfume people just standing there and smiling Reply * [d44] [d44b0a7c29]Track says: 12 Jul12 July 20:39 Absolutely crazy. First, Covid and you can't travel, companies lay off staff. Next you can't travel because too many been laid off and infrastructure not in place. Same with other supply chains. Reply + [7bd] [7bdca18b8a]John says: 12 Jul12 July 20:56 We're supposed to be distracted by gender-neutral toilets, subversive teachers, (too many) human rights, and tax cuts to ... ummm ... plug the deficit? Reply + [5df] [5dfedbeab4]M says: 12 Jul12 July 21:18 Yup. No signs of this improving soon as well. Reply * [fa0] [fa09eb2036]Bobt says: 12 Jul12 July 21:19 Trying to rebook a cancelled flight to Europe and all outbound Heathrow options have disappeared. Inbound still some availability at the end of the month. Guess I should have rebooked this morning when the availability was still there. Reply * [0a4] [0a439542da]ChasP says: 12 Jul12 July 21:46 Hows it going to be policed by Heathrow ? Will BA cancel economy bookings and sell business seats - esp for status holders ? Could make money even after paying compensation Reply * [c91] [c91d7296be]ADS says: 12 Jul12 July 21:54 So ground handling companies spent years reducing their costs to win airline contracts ... only to discover that they don't have capacity to ramp up employment when demand rises. When will companies realise that contracting out essential parts of your business is dangerous ! Reply * [49d] [49d3cf415d]Erico1875 says: 12 Jul12 July 22:17 If flights are cancelled due to Heathrow, or any other airport for that matter, then EU 261 should be adapted so that the AIRPORT is responsible for compensation. This utter mayhem is due to management incompetence. 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