Heathrow caps daily passenger total as flight demand, COVID-level staffing create havoc

London’s Heathrow Airport on Tuesday capped the number of daily passengers to 100,000 during the summer travel season and told airlines to stop selling tickets during that period, in further efforts to limit travel chaos resulting from high flight demand and staffing shortages.

Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, will limit its daily passenger number through Sept. 11, according to the Associated Press. 

The soaring demand for summer travel follows two years of COVID-19 travel restrictions that have overwhelmed European airlines and airports, which laid off tens of thousands of pilots, cabin crew, check-in staff, ground crew and baggage handlers in the worst part of the pandemic.

Airlines have already slashed thousands of flights from their summer schedules, and the restriction is likely to result in more flight cancellations.

The change follows U.K. aviation authorities demanding that airlines operate without disruption over the summer, amid passenger complaints about long lines at security checkpoints, lost luggage and long flight delays.

Heathrow says airlines are expected to operate flights over the summer with an overall daily capacity of 104,000 seats, or 4,000 more than it can handle, the wire service also reports.