Sleeping by bins... as BA cuts 1,500 flights to travel hotspots
HOLIDAYMAKERS have been forced to sleep by dustbins at Heathrow as travel chaos continues to hit airports across the country.
Pictures showed a young family napping in Terminal 2 at the London airport, where long queues and axed flights have marred summer getaways.
Yesterday, the number of flights British Airways has cancelled surged, with almost 1,500 set to be grounded, mostly during July.
It will plunge 170,000 passengers into chaos.
At Heathrow, around 11 per cent of all BA flights due to operate this month have been cancelled. At Gatwick, some 15 per cent of BA departures have been axed.
An aviation source said the lastminute nature of the cancellations would be “hugely worrying” to holidaymakers and could feed fears of more schedule changes.
The source said: “The BA summer schedule was totally reasonable in terms of passenger demand – everyone wants a holiday after two years of Covid rules.
“But it was utterly unreasonable in terms of what the airline can handle with a lack of staff and ongoing issues at Heathrow, its hub.” A BA spokesman said: “As the entire aviation industry continues to face the most challenging period in its history, regrettably it has become necessary to make further reductions.
“We’re in touch with customers to apologise and offer to rebook them or issue a full refund.”
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “These are pretty significant short-haul cuts at the biggest UK airports, Heathrow and Gatwick.
“BA is clearly seeking to achieve quality over quantity during such a challenging summer.
“But more cuts are certain as we’ve yet to see how schedules will be affected in August.”
Furious travellers have endured cancelled flights, endless queues and lost luggage as the demand for getaways surged following the easing of Covid curbs.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We have asked the industry to develop schedules they can realistically deliver over the summer. Airlines must do the right thing and offer to rebook passengers and inform them of their refund and compensation rights.”