BA says flight cuts will have “minimal” impact on customers

Edinburgh, United Kingdom. 13 July 2017 - Two airplanes of British Airways, one of them parked and another one heading to the runway, at Edinburgh's Airport.

By James Harrison

British Airways will cut about 10,000 short-haul flights between October and March that go to or from Heathrow Airport.

Despite the seemingly large number of cancellations, British Airways said that the impact for customers would be “minimal” as most flights are unchanged.

The cancellations are to minimise flight disruptions over the winter period, British Airways said. The airline said it would cut 12 round trips per day and some long-haul flights would be disrupted.

BA said it was “protecting key holiday destinations over half-term,” as most schools in England are off during the last week of October.

The airline said that many flight cancellations will be on routes that have other daily services to the same destination. Passengers impacted by the change will be offered an alternative flight or a refund.

“Customers booked for winter will be able to travel as planned and are being given several months’ notice of any changes,” a statement said.

The airline is expected to operate about 290 round-trips per day from Heathrow over the winter. This change means that the winter schedule will be reduced by 8 per cent.

The news comes as Heathrow Airport, which is British Airways’ main hub, extended its cap on passengers going through the airport due to staff shortages. The cap was originally slated to end on 11 September, but the airport announced this week it would be extended until 29 October to ease the strain ahead of half-term getaways.

Heathrow had struggled with rising passenger numbers and issues with its baggage handling systems as travel has progressively taken off again.

British Airways had already cut over 30,000 flights over the summer period and had been planning a ramp-up to the winter period. However, this cut means that the airline may not operate as hoped.

The move follows British Airways’ announcement at the start of this month that it suspended the sales of short-haul services departing from Heathrow Airport until 15 August.

This impacted flights from Heathrow to the UK, European destinations, Morocco, and Egypt did not impact British Airways flights from other UK airports.

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british airways Flight cuts heathrow airport passenger caps