[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] London Heathrow Airport has requested airlines not to sell tickets as it limits daily passengers to 100,000 until September. Due to staff shortages at European airports struggling since COVID-19, flight delays and cancellations are spreading.
According to Bloomberg and others on the 12th (local time), Heathrow Airport limited the number of daily departures to 100,000 during the summer peak season and asked airlines not to sell tickets. This restriction will be in effect from today until September 11, lasting two months.
Heathrow said the current average expected daily passengers are 104,000, which is 4,000 more than the capacity. Considering that before COVID-19, the airport handled 110,000 to 125,000 passengers daily, this is much lower, but due to staff shortages, it cannot handle more than 100,000 passengers now.
In fact, Heathrow reduced its staff during COVID-19, but with the recent surge in air travelers, it is experiencing long waits, cancellations, and baggage handling errors. John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow Airport, said, "Additional measures were necessary to ensure passengers can travel safely and reliably," and apologized for the impact on travel plans.
The UK government, facing increasing inconvenience from last-minute flight disappearances, has encouraged pre-adjustments, leading airlines to cancel many flights in advance. British Airways canceled about 30,000 flights from April to October, and easyJet canceled about 10,000 flights from July to September. However, the situation has not improved and still exceeds the airport's capacity.
Most European airports are experiencing similar situations. Due to ongoing staff shortages, flight delays and cancellations continue to occur. According to Harper, an online travel agency invested in by Goldman Sachs, which named the 10 European airports with the most severe delays, Brussels Airport in Belgium had the worst situation, with an average of 72% of flights delayed and 2.5% canceled from the 1st to the 9th of this month.
Following were Frankfurt International Airport in Germany (68% delays, 7.8% cancellations), Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands (67% delays, 1.8% cancellations), Luton Airport in the UK (66% delays, 2.7% cancellations), Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Hungary (65% delays, 2.1% cancellations), Lisbon Airport in Portugal (65% delays, 4.8% cancellations), Charles de Gaulle Airport in France (62% delays, 3.1% cancellations), Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands (61% delays, 5.2% cancellations), C?te d'Azur Airport in France (60% delays, 3.4% cancellations), and Gatwick Airport in the UK (59% delays, 1.4% cancellations).
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