Heathrow airport passenger cap extended until 29th October – after autumn half term

Heathrow has extended its 100,000 passenger a day cap for another six weeks, until the 29th October. It had been due to end on 11th September. The new date will include the autumn half-term, when a lot of people fly abroad. The reason for the reduction to 100,000 departing passengers is continuing staff shortages. Reducing the number per day slightly means fewer delays and last-minute cancellations. Heathrow reported a £321m adjusted pretax loss for the first half of 2022 in July. It could not cope with passengers’ baggage.  The airport said it remained loss-making and did not expect to pay any dividends to its shareholders for the rest of the year, but it was offsetting increased costs through higher charges.  People are anxious about their flights. Perhaps some might decide not to fly this year.  Earlier in August, Ferrovial said it was considering selling its stake in Heathrow, as it was not making enough money out of it.  Finding enough money to build a (white elephant) 3rd runway seems an ever more distant, or impossible, aspiration by Heathrow’s owners.
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Heathrow passengers face more uncertainty as capacity cap extended

Loss-making airport says restricting numbers to 100,000 a day is reducing last-minute cancellations

By Charlie Maloney and agency (The Guardian)
Mon 15 Aug 2022

Heathrow airport has extended its 100,000 passenger a day cap for another six weeks as the aviation sector continues to struggle to meet increased demand for travel amid staffing shortages.

The capacity limit was initially meant to last until 11 September, but that date was pushed back on Monday to 29 October, overlapping with the autumn half-term break for most schools.

The UK’s busiest airport said the move was taken after the introduction of a temporary cap in July led to an improvement in punctuality and fewer last-minute cancellations.

The London hub was one of the worst hit by the severe disruption that blighted airports across the country in the May half-term and early summer, with long security queues and baggage system breakdowns.

Heathrow reported a £321m adjusted pretax loss for the first half of the year in July after experiencing weeks of lengthy queues and flight cancellations.

Hundreds of suitcases were filmed piled up at Heathrow in June after issues were reported with the baggage system and many people were forced to travel without their belongings and were told they may not get them back for up to two days.

Tens of thousands of flights have already been cancelled this summer as the industry struggles to cope with a rise in demand to near pre-pandemic levels amid staffing shortages. The industry has also been accused of failing to anticipate the bounceback after two years of disruption caused by the Covid pandemic.

The consumer rights group Which? said the move would leave the plans of thousands of passengers in limbo. Guy Hobbs, its travel editor, described the situation as a “mess” and urged the airport to provide clarity to holidaymakers about the flight schedule.

“Though the extension of the passenger cap may help Heathrow prevent a repeat of the unacceptable last-minute cancellations we saw earlier in the summer, thousands of people will now be anxious about whether their travel plans could be scuppered,” he said.

“Heathrow and impacted airlines must act without delay to provide travellers with clarity on which flights are being cut, and airlines must ensure affected passengers are aware of their rights to rebooking or refunds.

“The aviation industry and the government need to ensure that this mess is sorted out as soon as possible – passenger caps cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.”

Heathrow said the cap imposed in July had resulted in “fewer last-minute cancellations” and “shorter waits for bags”.

It added the capacity limits would be kept under review and “could be lifted earlier should there be a sustained picture of better resilience and a material increase in resourcing levels”.

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

“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.”

Heathrow had said it hired 1,300 people in the past six months, adding that it would return to pre-pandemic levels of security staff by the end of July.

The airport said it remained loss-making and did not expect to pay any dividends to its shareholders for the rest of the year, but it was offsetting increased costs through higher charges.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/aug/15/heathrow-airport-passengers-daily-capacity-cap-extended

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Heathrow airport passenger cap extended until end of October

By Greg Wilford (The Times)
Monday August 15 2022

Heathrow airport will extend its cap on passenger numbers for another six weeks as the aviation sector continues to struggle to cope with demand.

No more than 100,000 travellers a day will be able to depart until October 29, the airport said.

The measures, which were due to end on September 11, now cover the half-term holidays, a popular getaway time for many families across the country.

It means prices could go up for flights that are to be sold and existing flights having their times changed, departure airport moved or face being cancelled altogether as the airlines try to ensure they stay within the passenger limits.

Heathrow said the move was taken following an improvement in punctuality and fewer delays to passing through security and baggage reclaim after introducing a temporary cap in July.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told The Daily Mail: “The cap may be working for Heathrow and smoothing passenger journeys, but it’s causing continuing frustration for the million or so who are going to be caught up by this decision.”

John Holland-Kaye, the boss of Heathrow, told the paper the cap is necessary because airlines continue to try and operate an unrealistic number of flights. He said many are still yet to increase the number of ground-handling resources more than six months since the issues emerged.

“Unless something changes radically, we’re going to be in the same situation in six months’ time or maybe even 12 months. We really need to fix this. It’s not just Heathrow, it applies to all airports across Europe,” he said.

The consumer rights group Which? Described the situation as a “mess” and urged airports, including Heathrow, to provide clarity to flyers.

Tens of thousands of flights have already been cancelled this summer as the industry struggles to cope with demand amid staffing shortages.

The aviation sector has been hit by months of chaos since international travel resumed in the spring. British Airways has cancelled 27,900 flights this summer and this week suspended the sale of all short-haul flights from Heathrow until August 15.

Airports across Europe have also struggled to process the number of arriving aircraft, with long waits for steps and airbridges reported.

Many passengers flying to and from the UK’s busiest airport have suffered severe disruption in recent months.

Heathrow said the capacity limits would be kept under review and could be lifted earlier.

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

BA staff reach pay agreement
Thousands of workers at British Airways will receive a pay rise of up to 13 per cent, union leaders said yesterday (Nadeem Badshah writes).

It is understood that the deal will apply to about 16,000 staff, including cabin crew, engineers and baggage handlers, restoring pay to pre-pandemic levels, The Guardian reported.

Union bosses said the deal was reached after the threat of strikes by check-in staff this summer, which resulted in a pay agreement that was being extended across the workforce.

Industrial action was averted in July after about 500 workers represented by the Unite union, most of whom are employed by BA at Heathrow, accepted the deal. As part of the agreement, workers will receive a sum worth 5 per cent of their wages this month.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/heathrow-airport-passenger-numbers-cap-extended-until-end-of-october-lzbxq6f3n

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See earlier:

 

Heathrow’s Spanish owner Ferrovial considers selling stake if airport does not make enough money

Ferrovial, which owns 25% of Heathrow, is considering selling its stake. A French investor, Ardian – which has other airport interests – might buy it. Ferrovial considers it has not made, and is not making, enough money from Heathrow.  It is displeased by the CAA ruling, that Heathrow cannot hugely increase its landing fees charged per passenger at Heathrow. Heathrow wanted to put this up to over £40 per person, but recently the CAA ruled that it will have to fall from £30.19 to £26.31 by 2026, despite a furious lobbying effort by the airport. Ferrovial is understood to have been approached by Ardian, a Paris-based private equity firm, about a possible joint deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Ardian held a 49% stake in Luton airport between 2013 and 2018.  Ferrovial has said it would be sceptical about committing further funding to Heathrow if the airport cannot get CAA agreement on charges.  The lower landing charges are a disincentive to new investors, who fear low profits.  Experts consider that any decision to cut off funding was likely to scupper plans for a 3rd runway, with progress already disrupted by a sharp fall in air travel during the pandemic and huge debts.

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