Topline
London’s Heathrow Airport will remove a cap on the number of daily departing passengers at its terminals at the end of the month, the airport said Monday, following a summer filled with flight cancellations and disruptions across Europe and the United States.
Travelers wait in a long queue to pass through the security check at Heathrow on June 1, 2022.
Key Facts
The airport told airlines the cap—which was first implemented in July and limits the number of departing passengers to 100,000 per day—will be dropped on October 29, following the end of the summer flying season, the Wall Street Journal first reported, citing people familiar with the decision.
A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport confirmed the news to Forbes, adding, “Our focus has always been on removing the cap as quickly as possible.”
The airport plans to manage winter capacity by developing another mechanism that it said “protects existing airline schedules, and restricts changes or additions to peak periods.”
Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe, previously extended the cap on passengers until late October two months ago, due to worker shortages, delays and long lines that came with a surge of summer travelers.
The cap led to “fewer last-minute cancellations, better punctuality and shorter waits for bags,” a Heathrow spokesperson said.
Tangent
Heathrow is one of several airports that implemented caps on passengers during a busy summer of travel, including Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport, which announced last week it would cap the number of departing passengers until early 2023.
Key Background
Thousands of flights were canceled and delayed around the world this summer. The problem was fueled by factors like a surge in leisure travel by Americans following the relaxation of pandemic restrictions, major staffing shortfalls at airlines and extreme weather, including heat waves. Many airlines are facing shortages of pilots and other employees after they cut staff to make up for lower demand for travel because of the coronavirus. Heathrow rushed to hire hundreds of workers in recent months to help return to pre-pandemic staffing levels and manage the jump in travelers, but the London airport has said a shortage of ground handlers in particular led to long lines at baggage claim as well as delays and flight cancellations. Airlines have also had to cut back on flights to deal with disruptions, including British Airways, which announced in August it would cut 10,000 flights between late October through March, and Delta Air Lines, which cut about 100 flights per day during the summer months.
Further Reading
London Heathrow to Drop Daily Passenger Cap After Chaotic Summer (Wall Street Journal)
Heathrow extends passenger limit into fall as travel chaos persists (Washington Post)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/10/03/heathrow-airport-will-end-daily-passenger-limits-after-flight-disruption-filled-summer/