New disruption at Heathrow after airport orders 30 flights to be cancelled
Thousands more passengers have had their plans upset by the airports staffing crisis, after Heathrow ordered airlines to cancel flights because it could not handle the numbers due to travel.
The UK’s busiest airport made a rare “schedule intervention” on Wednesday evening, leading to 30 flights being scrapped during the Thursday morning peak.
Some passengers did not find out their flights were cancelled until they arrived at Heathrow.
The travel writer and broadcaster Andy Mossack tweeted: “Total chaos at Heathrow this morning. British Airways flights cancelled and zero customer service!”
Another affected passenger, Andrew Douglas, said he was due to be on a flight but had “spent the last four hours in multiple queues at Heathrow airport because it’s been cancelled”.
He added: “Absolute shambles, complete chaos and only found out at check-in with no prior notification. Horrific service.”
A spokesperson for Heathrow said the airport asked airlines to remove 30 flights from the morning peak as it was expecting more passengers than it had capacity to serve.
About 13% more passengers were due to fly this Thursday than a week ago, according to the spokesperson, after a surge in late bookings. He said there were enough staff in all areas across the airport to guarantee smooth journeys for the number of passengers in the morning peak, and the decision was taken to avoid unsafe queues.
“We will work with airlines to get affected passengers rebooked on to other flights outside of the peak so that as many as possible can get away, and we apologise for the impact this has on travel plans,” he added.
“We are working hard to ensure everyone has a smooth journey through
Heathrow this summer, and the most important thing is to make sure that all service providers at the airport have enough resources to meet demand.”
The majority of cancelled flights were on British Airways services.
Passengers using Heathrow in recent weeks have experienced long queues, and many have been separated from their luggage for several days. The airport has yet to recruit many of the additional 1,000 staff it sought for this summer.
The government meanwhile has set out a 22-point plan to try to avoid a summer repeat of the disruption at UK airports in the run-up to Easter and the platinum jubilee bank holiday period.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said: “The 22 measures we have published today set out what we’re doing to support the industry. It is now on airports and airlines to commit to running the flights they have promised or cancel them with plenty of time to spare so we can avoid the kind of scenes we saw at Easter and half term.”
Tim Alderslade, the chief executive of Airlines UK, said: “The whole sector is working closely with ministers and the [Civil Aviation Authority] to build greater resilience into operations this summer. We will do everything we can to ensure this summer is a success.”
However, other aviation industry sources said the measures were not new and only two, previously announced on slot allocation and speeding up recruitment, would have a helpful impact in reducing queues this summer.
The government has told airlines they can hand back valuable airport slots for summer without forfeiting the rights under the usual “use it or lose it” regime. It has also allowed aviation businesses to conduct some of the lengthy background check process on new recruits via HMRC and start training staff before the full security clearance.
Labour said Shapps needed to “step up to the plate” over the turmoil in the aviation industry. The shadow transport minister, Mike Kane, responding to the 22-point plan in the Commons, said: “He is missing in action when it comes to aviation. Now, he has mentioned the chaos between Easter and the jubilee weekend. He did not hold one meeting with aviation bosses during that time.
“He needs to step up to the plate, he needs to go to the prime minister, he needs to knock on the door, and he needs to clean up the mess.”