BA suspends short-haul ticket sales from Heathrow: what you need to know
British Airways has suspended ticket sales on short-haul flights out of Heathrow. How will this affect travellers and why have they done it?
No additional flights have been cancelled.
No. Passengers with existing bookings will still be able to travel and inbound flights will not be affected. Long-haul tickets will remain on sale.
It has simply stopped selling any more last-minute tickets on its short-haul flights out of Heathrow to comply with the passenger cap announced by the London airport three weeks ago. BA paused sales last weekend, and has now extended that until 8 August.
BA operates far more services from Heathrow than any other airline, with its own dedicated terminal, and agreed immediately to the cap, which limits passenger numbers to 100,000 a day across the airport.
The cap was to help ensure that the scheduled services could operate without delay and last-minute cancellations, as the aviation industry continues to struggle to recruit and retain enough staff to meet the demand for flights after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Heathrow says there is a dearth of ground staff, who are hired or contracted by airlines. That has contributed to large queues at check-ins and problems at baggage reclaim, with the potential for any delays or hiccups to escalate into broader chaos.
Yes. The airline says that the decision will also “maximise rebooking options” for passengers bumped from those flights it did actually cancel, four weeks ago.
Possibly. The cap is in place until 11 September. BA has paused short-haul ticket sales until 8 August for now, and will keep the decision under review. The airline could well extend it during peak season – most outbound travel takes place in the first few weeks of the school holiday.
Few people will
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