Heathrow urges airlines to scale back flights in 'extremely busy season'

UK's international airport was forced to cancel dozens of flights at short notice this week to avoid overcrowding

Passengers queue in Heathrow's Terminal 2 amid a spike in demand for flights this week. Reuters

Heathrow Airport is urging airlines to take advantage of a relaxation of government rules on take-off and landing slots as it braces for an “extremely busy summer season”.

Passengers at the London airport were hit by last-minute flight cancellations this week as management ordered carriers to pull 30 flights from Thursday’s schedule to avoid overcrowding in terminals.

The number of people who turned up at the airport early on Thursday was 13 per cent higher than a week earlier. Setbacks at Gatwick Airport had caused a rush for flights at Heathrow.

The UK government last week announced an “amnesty” to allow airlines to hand back take-off and landing slots they are not confident they will be able to operate for the summer season.

Heathrow bosses are urging airlines to take a realistic look at their slots and take action if necessary to avoid last-minute flight cancellations.

A spokesman for British Airways, which has its main base at Heathrow, confirmed the airline had reduced its summer flight schedule by 11 per cent.

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

Terminal 4 reopened in June to reduce pressure on other terminals and by mid-July, it is expected to serve more than 30 airlines.

Although requirements for Covid-19 certificates have been dropped by the UK, many countries still have strict rules in place. This means airline staff have to spend extra time checking passengers’ documents depending on the destination, which can cause extended waiting times at gates.

“We encourage airlines to take this opportunity to reconsider their summer schedules without penalty and inform passengers as early as possible of any changes,” a spokesman for Heathrow said.

The number of passengers passing through the airport’s doors is now at the highest level since the pandemic took hold in Britain in March 2020.

“We have faced 40 years of growth in just four months and that has put the entire aviation industry under pressure,” the spokesman added.

“We expect an extremely busy summer season and we’re working hard to ramp-up our operations for the summer peak as quickly as we can with the same level of security officers this summer as in 2019 and we have reopened Terminal 4, which will be serving over 30 airlines by mid-July.”

He said that the airport's operating plan is working and the vast majority of passengers have had “good, predictable journeys”, though he expressed regret over those who have experienced delays or cancellations. .

“That being said, there are still Covid restrictions in place across some of our markets — which means that airlines and their check-in colleagues take longer to process each passenger through check-in,” he continued.

“There is a natural limit to what airlines can safely accommodate during their check-in process given the extended times they are taking to verify each passenger’s paperwork complies with destination requirements.

“To provide resilience to the operation, BA has already removed 10 per cent of their summer schedule. Our primary concern is the safe operation of the airport and we will continue to support the airlines to make safe decisions for passengers during this period.”

Huw Merriman, a Conservative MP and chairman of the House of Commons transport select committee, said that cash-strapped airlines have to pay back hefty loans taken out during the Covid-19 pandemic when flights were grounded and are therefore keen to operate as many flights full of passengers as possible.

In March, when the remaining Covid-19 travel rules were dropped, airlines faced a requirement to operate 70 per cent of their flights or risk losing their landing slots, which are expensive and difficult to get back if they are lost.

Mr Merriman pointed out that the aviation industry shed on average 5,000 jobs per month during the height of the pandemic and does not have enough staff in place to cope with current passenger levels.

“Demand has come back almost to pre-Covid levels but the airlines just cannot operate the numbers of flights that they want to operate,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He said it remains to be seen whether airlines would heed government advice and cancel flights at least 14 days in advance under the new amnesty rules.