Due to a number of passengers on Monday "higher than the capacity" of the airport, "we have asked certain companies (...) to cancel a total of 61 flights", announced Heathrow in a statement sent to the AFP.

These include flights from British Airways, Virgin and Air France, an airport spokeswoman told AFP.

In all, 1,100 flights were scheduled for Monday departing from and arriving at London airport, which had already asked certain airlines at the end of June to lighten their flight schedules, in particular because of enormous problems with baggage delivery. to travellers.

Heathrow apologizes to the passengers affected but adds that it will act again if necessary "to ensure passengers receive the level of service they deserve".

Companies such as British Airways, Wizz Air or Easyjet have for their part recently canceled thousands of flights this summer to limit the chaos in British airports, which is particularly marked during the long spring weekends.

"We will review the airlines' schedule changes (...) and ask them to take additional action if necessary," Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye warned earlier Monday in a statement.

The airport saw "the equivalent of 40 years of increase (in passenger numbers) in just 4 months", he added.

Consequence: “We have recently seen times when demand exceeds the capacity of the airport, airlines and ground service providers”.

British airlines and airports, which had laid off thousands of people at the height of the pandemic, are struggling to recruit, and have had difficult weeks, with long queues and series flight cancellations.

British Airways, of which Heathrow is the main base and which had cut some 10,000 jobs during the pandemic, had already greatly reduced its flight program for several months.

The company announced Wednesday to cancel 10,300 additional flights by the end of October.

The Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air, listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced Monday to further reduce its flight schedule during the summer peak, as did Easyjet a few weeks earlier.

The British government recently relaxed the rules governing take-off and landing slots this summer, to allow companies to adapt their flight schedules, without losing their rights for the following season.

“Arrival punctuality is (currently) very poor due to delays at other airports and airspace congestion across Europe,” worsening the situation at Heathrow, the airport noted in its statement on Monday. communicated.

London airport terminals saw the number of passengers multiply by almost seven over a year between January and June.

Heathrow says it started recruiting in November and estimates that by the end of July it will have as many security employees as before the pandemic.

© 2022 AFP