London 11 August : London’s Heathrow airport insists that the recent chaos in travel is slowing down after it was told by airlines to reduce their flight schedules to prevent cancellations and delays.The group’s Chief ExecutiveOfficer, John Holland-Kaye said that passengers have enjoyed “better and more reliable travel” after the limit on flights that leave was put in place, the DPA news agency reported.
Heathrow and Gatwick required airlines to reduce their flight schedules after chaotic events as staff shortages forced them to deal with the sudden rise of demands for overseas holidays.
Holidaymakers faced delays and cancellations with long lines at airports as they had to contend with baggage handling as well as air traffic control and security.
However, Heathrow said that the caps have “delivered improvements to the passenger experience, with fewer last-minute flight cancellations, more punctual flights and delivery of baggage”.
Holland-Kaye said: “Passengers are seeing better and more reliable journeys after the implementation of the demand cap.I would like to thank all my colleagues at the airport for their outstanding work in taking people off for their vacations.”
Heathrow did not provide details regarding when the cap could be lifted.But, they it did say that an increase of ground handling operations for airlines will be a major element, “and we have initiated the process of reviewing of ground handling in support of this goal”.
This group could be faced with an avalanche of compensation claims from the affected airlines and holiday companies Many of which have placed the blame for the disruptions squarely at the at the feet of the airports.
Tui on Wednesday said it’s looking to recover an “significant” amount from the airports that it flies from, after it took a 75 million euro ($77.45-million) cost loss due to recent travel troubles.
Heathrow confirmed that security staffing is back to pre-pandemic levels and 88 percent of passengers were able to pass security in 20 minutes or less.
The most recent statistics of passengers revealed that it saw 318 percent more passengers in total of 6.3 million passengers, travel through the terminals in July.
It added that another 16 million people are likely to pass through Heathrow between July and September as the travel demand rises.
