British Airways suspends ticket sales at London Heathrow Airport
British Airways is Cancellation of ticket sales in London Heathrow an extra week at the airport because neither the airline nor the airport have enough staff to handle it the rush of tourists this summer. British Airways tickets for short-haul flights from Heathrow will not be available until August 15. Bloomberg.
A week later than the previously announced suspension, which is expected to last until August 8. British Airways said it would stop selling tickets yesterday, August 1. , but the airline announced it would resume sales during the week. Now that service providers have 24 hours to review, they believe one week is not enough time to clear the backlog, and is extending the short pause to two weeks to “maximize rebooking options for existing customers, with restrictions imposed on them.” book for us”.
The restrictions come from operators London Heathrow, capping the number of daily departure customers at 100,000 starting on 12 July. forced British Airways to cancel 13% of its planned capacity for the summer, possibly more now. So the airline is having two weeks to sort out the incapacity and reschedule existing cancellations.
Cancellations spurred by post-COVID recovery travel demand-19 lockdowns that neither the airline nor the airport are prepared for. That’s partly because airlines and airports are still struggling to function with understaffed staff after laying off workers due to the travel lull brought on by the pandemic.
Previously, Heathrow Airport blamed the backlog on British Airways for a lack of staff, but the airport is now blaming travelers, citing a “disproportionate increase in leisure passengers”. . These vacationers – how dare they travel for fun – unfamiliar with airport security procedures.
Heathrow said holidaymakers “slow the flow through security for all passengers,” by carrying liquids in their hand luggage. The airport went on to say the problem won’t go away anytime soon; central London expects backlogs and cancellations to last until mid-2023. We have another messy year to look forward to, so “entertainment passengers” need to learn how to navigate safely. security, or the tourism industry needs to hire more people. Could be both.