Heathrow extends capacity cap through October

Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5 complex viewed from control tower, February 2018
By Alexandra Coulton


Heathrow Airport has extended its passenger caps through to the end of its summer season to manage what has been called “the summer of travel disruptions”.

Since 12 July, the largest airport in the UK has had a capacity limit in place, allowing no more than 100,000 departing passengers per day to combat a huge increase in flight cancellations, delays and baggage mishaps as travel gets back on its feet.

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.

According to the airport, the cap has resulted in fewer last-minute cancellations, better punctuality and shorter waits for bags.

Several other airports, including Gatwick, Frankfurt and Schiphol have also put in place equivalent capacity limits as the aviation sector across Europe faces similar challenges to the UK.

Schiphol has also extended its cap through to the end of October.

Heathrow noted the cap may be lifted earlier should there be better resilience and resourcing levels, particularly in ground handling.

The airport launched a review of airline ground handling last week and said it will be working with airlines and ground handlers to understand how it can unlock more capacity in this critical part of the airport and better passenger demand in the months and years ahead.

“Our primary concern is ensuring we give our passengers a reliable service when they travel,” said Ross Baker, Heathrow’s chief commercial officer.

“That’s why we introduced temporary capacity limits in July which have already improved journeys during the summer getaway.

“We want to remove the cap as soon as possible, but we can only do so when we are confident that everyone operating at the airport has the resources to deliver the service our passengers deserve.”

Over the past year, Heathrow has seen the largest rise in passenger numbers of any European airport in the last year, with over 6 million people travelling through the airport in July and an estimated 16 million expected between July and September.

Smartraveller has released an update for Aussie travellers headed to Heathrow, warning the cap has been causing delays and cancellations to international flights travelling in and out of the airport.

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