UK airport disruptions ease after passenger caps and flight cancellations

The travel disruption that gripped UK airports this summer has eased in recent weeks after unprecedented passenger caps were imposed and airlines cancelled thousands of flights to cope with widespread staff shortages. Just 0.34% of flights from UK airports were cancelled in the first week of August, compared with more than 5% in the last week of June, according to figures from aviation data company OAG. The proportion of cancelled flights has steadily trended lower since mid-July, indicating that the industry has managed to restore some resilience to its operations in time for the peak summer holiday rush. Heathrow airport said on Thursday its decision to impose a passenger cap “has delivered improvements to passenger experience”, including fewer last-minute cancellations, better punctuality and improvements to previously chaotic baggage delivery. “Passengers are seeing better, more reliable journeys since the introduction of the demand cap,” said Heathrow’s CE John Holland-Kaye. But greater stability has come at a significant reputational and financial cost to the industry. Heathrow last month limited the number of passengers able to use the airport to 100,000 a day, down from 104,000 originally scheduled for the summer. The cap will remain in place until at least September 11. Gatwick, the UK’s second busiest airport, has imposed similar restrictions. Heathrow’s move was criticised by airlines including Emirates, while British Airways responded by suspending short-haul ticket sales from the airport. BA and other airlines including easyJet were also forced to cancel thousands of flights earlier this summer, after concluding industry-wide staffing problems meant they would be unable to fulfil their planned schedules.<br/>