London Heathrow Airport has announced the extension of the ongoing passenger cap until October 29, 2022. The current restriction which limits the passenger number to 100,000 daily is supposed to end on the 11th of September but the airport says it will continue to impose aircraft restrictions and passenger caps until the end of October.
The largest and busiest airport in the UK claimed the cap would "provide passengers with confidence ahead of their half-term getaways".
"Our primary concern
is ensuring we give our passengers a reliable service
when they travel," said Ross Barker, Heathrow's chief commercial officer.
"We want to remove
the cap as soon as possible, but we can only do so when we are confident that
everyone operating at the airport has the resources to deliver the service our
passengers deserve," he stated.
Following the COVID-19
lockdowns, airports have struggled to handle the resurgence of strong demand.
One of the worst-affected airports, Heathrow, maintains that fewer last-minute
cancellations and on-time flights have occurred since passenger limitations
were implemented in July. Airlines believe airports could have been more ready
for the post-pandemic surge, and a shortage of ground workers is one of the
main issues.
According to a Virgin
Atlantic spokesperson, “we are disappointed that Heathrow Airport has
already decided to extend the passenger capacity cap until the end of October,
as additional resources come online every week and the airport experience
improves.”
Given that Heathrow stated that "better resource levels are obvious and the airport continues to observe consistent operational gains," the cap may be lifted earlier than the end of October.
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