London Heathrow Airport apologizes for travel disruptions
LONDON (AP) — London Heathrow Airport on Monday apologized to passengers whose trips were disrupted by staff shortages and warned it may ask airlines to cut more flights from their schedules. summer in order to reduce the pressure if the chaos persists.
Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, said service levels have been unacceptable at times in recent weeks, with long queues for security, delays helping passengers with reduced mobility and missing luggage or arriving late.
“We want to apologize to all passengers who have been impacted by this,” the airport said in a monthly traffic update.
The explosion in demand for summer travel after two years of COVID-19 travel restrictions has overwhelmed airlines and airports across Europe, which have been left short of staff after laying off scores of pilots, cabin crew, check-in staff, ground staff and baggage handlers.
At Heathrow, unclaimed baggage has piled up in arrivals due to a technical glitch in the baggage system.
Compounding the problem, Heathrow said punctuality for arriving flights is “very poor” due to delays at other airports and airspace congestion across Europe.
Heathrow said it started recruiting in November in anticipation of travel demand picking up this summer and expects security staff to be back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of July. It also reopened Terminal 4 to provide more space for passengers.
British airlines have reduced their summer flight schedules after authorities ordered them to ensure they can operate uninterrupted during the summer. British Airways cut 11% of its flights between April and October to avoid canceling flights on the day of departure.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said the airport would review cuts offered by airlines “and ask them to take further action if necessary”.