Heathrow hits back at 'bizarre' Ryanair criticism

The boss of Heathrow Airport has hit back at criticism from Ryanair, saying it is "bizarre" to blame airports for not having enough staff. John Holland-Kaye told the BBC it was up to airlines, not airports, to provide ground handling workers. On Monday, a Ryanair executive criticised airports for not recruiting enough staff to cater for the rebound in travellers. Thousands of passengers have faced delays and cancellations recently. A shortage of staff has contributed to the disruption. Airports and airlines, which cut jobs during Covid lockdowns, have struggled to recruit workers as demand for travel has returned. Ground handling staff are responsible for a range of services at airports, including loading and unloading baggage. On Monday, Ryanair's chief financial officer said airports had not recruited enough staff to cater for the rebound in travellers, saying they "had one job to do to". Neil Sorahan said "various governments" and airports needed to be held to account for "not staffing up appropriately". Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Mr Holland-Kaye labelled those comments as "bizarre". He added: "Airports don't provide ground handling, that's provided by the airlines themselves. So this is like accusing us of not having enough pilots."<br/>