Travellers to the UK this summer should brace for months of potential disruptions and changes to flight schedules, because of a cap introduced on passenger numbers at London's Heathrow airport.
The cap was announced this week as part of efforts to cut long queues, and to reduce volumes of lost baggage and flight cancellations.
Airlines were told to stop selling tickets to the west London airport to limit the impact on passengers, with Gulf carriers preparing for changes to existing flight schedules over the coming months.
Etihad Airways said a flight from London to Abu Dhabi on Thursday would set off more than three hours earlier than scheduled "to avoid peak congestion".
"As a result of capacity limits imposed by Heathrow Airport, Etihad Airways has been forced to reschedule flight EY26 from London to Abu Dhabi on Thursday 14 July," an Etihad spokesman said.
"The flight will now depart earlier than planned at 5.20pm instead of 8.45pm to avoid the peak congestion period at Terminal 4.
"Our teams are reaching out to notify passengers of the new departure time and assist connecting travellers who require alternative travel arrangements.
"We regret any inconvenience caused by this last minute change, which was necessary to avoid cancelling the flight."
The airline previously told The National it was working with airport authorities at London Heathrow to understand how capacity restrictions will be applied over the rest of the summer season in order to protect as many customer bookings as possible.
It said any changes to flight schedules will be communicated as soon as possible.
“Etihad Airways has been made aware of the temporary capacity limits at Heathrow Airport and is working with the airport authorities and the slot co-ordinator to understand how they will be applied,” a representative said.
“Flights between Abu Dhabi and London are continuing to operate as scheduled and in the event that there is any impact, it will be communicated in due course.”
Abu Dhabi and Dubai to London are popular routes during summer, as many look to escape the desert heat and to visit families back home.
London Heathrow currently receives about 104,000 passengers a day but, under the current rules, that has been cut to 100,000 to reduce the risk of delays and cancellations.
Only about ten flights a day are expected to be affected, roughly 600 across the next two months of summer.
The airport is expected to field some 70,000 flights in total during that period.
Legal action against London Heathrow has been threatened by service provider Swissport due to the continuing reduction in flights, as staffing plans for a busy summer have already been made.
Strike action over pay by refuelling workers is also mooted for 72 hours from July 21, adding to potential disruption.
Despite reduced services, London Heathrow does not have the worst record for delays in the UK.
Luton Airport ranks fourth on European list of worst performers, where 66 per cent of flights are delayed and 2.7 per cent cancelled.
London Gatwick also fares worse than Heathrow, and is tenth on the list for disruption with 59 per cent of flights delayed and 1.4 per cent cancelled.
Challenging months ahead for airlines
Nick Humphrey, a commercial lawyer who specialises in aviation with Kennedys in Dubai, told the Dubai Eye Business Breakfast radio programme that travellers to the UK could face months of disruption.
“Heathrow is a significant airport, particularly for travellers from the UAE who will be going there for holiday,” he said.
“For the 100,000 passengers passing through Heathrow every day it won’t be a lot of fun and there will still be delays, with long queues and lost baggage.
“When there is a delay at one airport and you are flying to another, it creates network issues.
“It doesn’t just affect one area, and there are issues in the Netherlands, France and Italy.
“There will be connectivity issues through the summer, and then we get into the bridging season of fog and then the World Cup with FlyDubai operating 30-40 flights a day.
“There will be challenges over the next 3-6 months.”
Decades of flight — Heathrow through the years: in pictures
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Heathrow Airport in London, the UK's busiest, has been a travel hub for decades. Here The National takes a look back at Heathrow through the years. All photos: Getty Images -
An Airco De Havilland biplane of the British airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, about to leave on the company’s inaugural flight from Hounslow Heath Aerodrome, later known as Heathrow, to Le Bourget, Paris, in August 1919 -
Waterlogged runways at London Airport - Heathrow's original name - one week before it became Britain's main aerial gateway to the US in 1946 -
The new BOAC maintenance headquarters at London Airport circa 1955 -
The air traffic control room at the airport's new terminal in 1955 -
US film star Marilyn Monroe with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, after arriving at the airport in July 1956 -
An aerial view showing the runways in 1958 -
The arrivals and departures board in 1960 -
A new airport gift shop, selling items by Chanel, Wedgwood and Pringle of Scotland, in 1961 -
The Queen's Building and the No. 1 Building Europa at Heathrow in 1965 -
The Beatles leave Heathrow for Salzburg in Austria, to resume filming of the movie Help!, in 1965 -
Passenger terminal gates at Heathrow in 1966 -
Keith Granville, managing director of BOAC, holding up a model of the Boeing 747 jet, with the new aircraft hangars under construction in the background, at Heathrow in 1969 -
An aerial view of Heathrow in 1970 -
Passengers boarding the first BOAC Jumbo Jet 747 used for a commercial flight, from London Heathrow to New York, in 1971 -
Passengers going through the departure lounge at Heathrow in 1973 -
Concorde takes off from Heathrow on her first commercial flight for British Airways in 1976 -
Men at work finalising the Heathrow Central underground station before its opening in 1977 -
Queen Elizabeth II passing though the Tube gates at Heathrow Central station on its opening in 1977 -
An aerial view of Heathrow in 1978 -
Passengers waiting near a departures board in 1979 -
Holidaymakers waiting in the departure lounge at Terminal 3 of Heathrow in 1981 -
British Airways employees protesting at Heathrow in 1984 -
Passengers and staff observe a silence in Heathrow's Terminal One to mark the beginning of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997 -
Rower Steve Redgrave at Heathrow with daughters Sophie and Natalie and son Zak after returning from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games with his gold medal -
Spectators watch the last Concorde land at Heathrow in 2003 -
Fans surround the coach carrying the England rugby team at Heathrow, as they arrived from Sydney after winning the World Cup in 2003 -
Heathrow's Terminal 2 in 2004 -
Passengers queue to check in at Terminal 1 of Heathrow Airport during the Christmas 2006 and New Year period -
Passengers wait at Terminal 1 on August 10, 2006, after airport security was raised to critical when a terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US was disrupted by police -
Planes queueing to take off at Heathrow in 2007 -
The new Terminal 5 at Heathrow in 2008 -
Aircraft at Heathrow Airport in front of the London skyline in 2016 -
Members of Team GB arrive from Rio de Janeiro at Heathrow, after returning from the 2016 Olympics, which saw Great Britain's strongest performance at the Games in over a century -
A composite photo shows planes taking off from Heathrow in November 2016. Forty-two planes were captured between 10.17am and 11.17am and a montage was created from those single images -
Items are arranged during an auction preview at Heathrow in 2018. The contents of Terminal 1, which closed in 2015, were being sold -
An airline passenger wearing a face mask pushes her bags through Heathrow's Terminal 5 during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 -
British Airways employees welcome Olympians returning from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 -
Travellers wait in a long queue to pass through the security check in 2022
