London's Heathrow Airport limits summer passengers, asks airlines to stop selling tickets
New limit comes as travel demand is surging
London’s busy Heathrow Airport announced Tuesday that it is going to limit the number of departing passengers to 100,000 a day through the summer as it’s grappling with staffing shortages and service disruptions.
The move comes after similar measures were instituted in nearby Gatwick Airport and in Amsterdam.
"Over the past few weeks... we have started to see periods when service drops to a level that is not acceptable," Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said in an open letter to passengers.
"Long queue times, delays for passengers requiring assistance, bags not travelling with passengers or arriving late, low punctuality and last-minute cancellations," he added.
BUTTIGEIG ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTIGATIONS OF AIRLINES AMID RISING PASSENGER DISSATISFACTION
Travelers line up at security at Heathrow Airport in London on June 22, 2022 (AP/Frank Augstein / Associated Press)
The airport estimates that on average, airlines are currently scheduled to fly 104,000 passengers daily from its runways throughout the summer.
Around 1,500 daily tickets have already been sold in excess of Heathrow’s new limit and those passengers will need to be rescheduled, refunded or rerouted.
A British Airways aircraft is seen at London Heathrow Airport on June 26. (Tejas Sandhu/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The new limit was set after airport officials analyzed the number of check-in staff, baggage handlers and other workers currently employed there.
Lines of passenger luggage lie arranged outside Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport in London on June 19. (REUTERS/Henry Nicholls / Reuters)
The passenger cap is set to run through Sept. 11.