LONDON — British Airways suspended the sale of short-haul flight tickets departing from London’s Heathrow after the airport asked airlines to limit new bookings.
In a statement Tuesday, the airline said the move — which will run until Aug. 8 — was taken in response to Heathrow’s request.
“We’ve decided to take responsible action and limit the available fares on some Heathrow services to help maximise rebooking options for existing customers, given the restrictions imposed on us and the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry.”
Heathrow Airport said it was happy its biggest airline followed the request: “We are pleased to see action from British Airways, acting responsibly and also putting passengers first.”
Europe’s biggest airport by passenger numbers announced it would impose a cap of 100,000 daily departing passengers on July 12 as the airline industry continues to struggle with staff shortages.
The airport said its decision to restrict numbers was taken “in the best interests of passengers” to provide “better, more reliable journeys this summer.”
The capacity cap will be in place until Sep. 11.
Heathrow had between 110,000 and 125,000 daily passenger departures in July and August 2019.
Similar scenes in mainland Europe
Europe’s third-biggest airport, Amsterdam’s Schiphol, has also announced a number of passenger caps through the summer.
“The purpose of setting a maximum is to ensure the safety of passengers and employees and to create a reliable process at the airport,” the airport said in a statement.
“All efforts are focused on keeping the consequences for travellers to a minimum.”
Currently a maximum of 73,000 passengers are able to depart from the Dutch airport, but that number will drop to 67,500 in September. This will then increase to 69,500 in October.
