Passenger limits at London’s busy Heathrow Airport have been extended through October as part of the continued efforts to reduce further chaos and avoid overwhelming ground crews and facilities.
No more than 100,000 passengers can depart from one of the busiest airports in the world. This rule which sought to minimize the impacts of the deluge of travelers going through the London Heathrow Airport has been extended through October 29.
The limits were first set in place in July before being extended through Sep 11. Now, it’s October and the airport continues to deal with a labor crisis.
“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,†Ross Baker, Heathrow’s chief commercial officer noted.
Other airports across Europe have implemented similar measures including Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport which has been overwhelmed with passenger traffic and struggled to keep up with the demand. Lost luggage, lengthy delays, disabled passengers being abandoned, long lines, and more have all become the hallmark of the summer travel story as airports, travel companies, and related industries desperately struggle to ramp staffing to meet demand.
On the heels of the pandemic which saw widespread staffing cuts, people who’ve been tired of not traveling are back in full force both domestically and internationally. This demand, combined with rising inflation, and a tight labor market has made it incredibly difficult to hire and retain workers.
Daily caps at airports like Heathrow and Schipol have been effective in mitigating some of the chaos. According to the National News, the caps are working.
“Passengers are seeing better, more reliable journeys since the introduction of the demand cap. I want to thank all my colleagues across the airport for their amazing work in getting people away on their holidays. This has only been possible because of the collective and determined efforts of airport, airline and wider Team Heathrow teams,” said John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow Airport.
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