BA freezes short-haul flights for second week

Analysts predict disruption could continue until end of school summer holidays amid chaos at airport

British Airways has stopped short-haul bookings from Heathrow for another week, amid warnings they may be halted for the rest of the summer. The carrier warned on Monday that it would stop taking new bookings for domestic and western European flights until Aug 8. Yesterday, this was extended, blocking new bookings on flights before Aug 16. Long-haul routes could be disrupted next, insiders warned, under Heathrow’s cap on passenger numbers to 100,000 a day.

BRITISH Airways has stopped shorthaul bookings from Heathrow for another week, amid warnings they may be halted for the rest of the summer.

The carrier warned on Monday that it would stop taking new bookings for domestic and western European flights until Aug 8. Yesterday this was extended, blocking new bookings on flights before Aug 16.

Long-haul routes could be disrupted next, insiders warned, as Heathrow airport’s cap on passenger numbers to 100,000 a day forces airlines to withhold tickets and fly planes with thousands of empty seats.

BA said the block on new short-haul bookings would allow it to comply with Heathrow’s passenger cap that had been “imposed” on airlines and it wanted to give customers “certainty” about their travel plans.

It is understood that the airline will also need to keep seats free on some flights to deal with other cancellations and unexpected disruption.

The halt on ticket sales prompted a 58 per cent rise in prices on some routes as the supply of short-haul fares fell.

Guy Hobbs, editor of Which? Travel, said: “With further ticket sale suspensions possible, people should consider booking as early as possible to avoid last-minute disappointment and inflated fares. They should also consider alternative airports and airlines where possible. The Government must act to ensure the Civil Aviation Authority has the power to hit operators with substantial fines in instances where they flout the rules.”

There are fears the disruption will last for the rest of the summer, affecting those hoping for a last-minute cheap getaway over the August bank holiday weekend.

Rob Burgess, editor of headforpoint.com, a frequent flyer website, said: “Since the Heathrow capacity cap will exist until at least Sept 11 – and we believe it will be pushed out further – it seems likely that BA will have to keep capacity caps in place until the end of the school holidays, given the upcoming bank holiday at the end of August.

“I therefore expect the block on sales to keep rolling over, until at least Aug 29 as BA is already over its daily passenger cap on many dates based on existing ticket sales.”

Mr Burgess said the changes would not affect those who had already booked tickets, aside from those who may be looking to arrange a last-minute connecting flight through BA.

Analysts suggested that the decision would cost BA some of its share in the short-haul market because rivals such as Jet2 and Ryanair, largely operate out of other airports.

However, according to Alexander Paterson, an analyst at Peel Hunt, the financial hit to BA will be limited as increased fares will “largely mitigate” the fall in capacity. Short-haul is the least profitable kind of flight, he said.

“All the same, it is quite something when BA has to suspend sales and cancel flights because Heathrow is not resourced to be able to handle even 104,000 passengers per day in peak summer,” he added.

The airport said a lack of ground crew and overbooking by airlines was leading to huge delays and last minute cancellations.

However, Gulf carrier Emirates accused Heathrow of choosing “not to plan, not to invest” in capacity while Unite yesterday accused Heathrow of having “cut staffing to the bone”.

A spokesman for Heathrow said the airport was “pleased” to see BA acting responsibly and “also putting the passenger first”