Heathrow Airport Extends Capacity Limits Amid Chaos

Via press release from Heathrow Airport:

Following a consultation with airlines, Heathrow has confirmed it will extend the existing limits on the airport’s capacity through to 29 October, the end of the summer season. This will provide passengers with confidence ahead of their half-term getaways.

In July, Heathrow introduced temporary capacity limits to improve passenger journeys over the summer getaway. By better balancing passenger demand with available resources, we are able to operate a safe airport ecosystem that prioritises passenger needs.

Since then, the cap has resulted in fewer last-minute cancellations, better punctuality and shorter waits for bags.

Several other airports, including Gatwick, Frankfurt and Schiphol have also put in place equivalent capacity limits as the entire aviation sector, both home and away, faces similar challenges. Schiphol has also extended its cap through to the end of October.

The capacity limits will be kept under regular review and could be lifted earlier should there be a sustained picture of better resilience and a material increase in resourcing levels, notably at some airline ground handlers which remains a core constraint on capacity at the airport.

Ryanair is adding hundreds of flights from London Stansted as the budget airline seeks to capitalise on an extended passenger limit at “hopeless” Heathrowhttps://t.co/5HzogPMbKN

— Telegraph Business (@telebusiness) August 16, 2022

London’s Heathrow extends passenger limit into fall as travel chaos persists https://t.co/wKsGzg2sHi

— Post World (@PostWorld) August 16, 2022

Heathrow Airport has extended its limit on the airport’s capacity to 100,000 departing passengers a day through Oct. 29 in an effort to ease chaos at airports that has marred summer travel in Europe. https://t.co/E1D6UbU3zX

— DealBook (@dealbook) August 16, 2022