Heathrow on Tuesday said it’s asking airlines to stop selling tickets, as it struggles to cope with a recovery in demand.
The largest airport in the U.K., owned by Spain’s Ferrovial FER, -0.36%, said its assessment is that it cannot handle more than 100,000 passengers per day, and even the introduction of a slot amnesty — where airlines are not charged for not using their capacity — isn’t enough to help matters.
“The latest forecasts indicate that even despite the amnesty, daily departing seats over the summer will average 104,000 – giving a daily excess of 4,000 seats. On average only about 1,500 of these 4,000 daily seats have currently been sold to passengers, and so we are asking our airline partners to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers,” said John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow.
The airport operator said it started recruiting in November in anticipation of capacity improving, and by the end of July it will have as many people working in security as it did before the pandemic. It said it was particularly short of ground handlers, which Heathrow said are contracted by the airlines.
Shares of British Airways owner International Airlines Group IAG, -1.10% edged 0.3% lower after tumbling nearly 6% on Monday.
Other airport operators also have struggled to meet the recovery in passenger demand, with Amsterdam’s Schiphol setting a cap on the total number allowed every day of up to 67,500 in July.
Source: Bloomberg
