LONDON, July 6 (BNA) – British Airways said today, Tuesday, that it has canceled more flights scheduled for the summer holiday season, at a time of widespread disruption at airports due to staff shortages and increased demand for travel.
The airline said it would now cut its April-October schedule by 11%, after it said in May that the cuts would be up to 10%, Reuters reported.
“With the entire airline industry continuing to grapple with the most difficult period in its history, unfortunately some additional cuts have become necessary,” a British Airways (BA) spokesperson said by email.
“We are in touch with customers to apologize and offer to rebook them or issue a full refund.”
The Telegraph reported late Monday that British Airways has canceled more than 650 flights from London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports to destinations including holiday destinations in Spain, Portugal and Greece, affecting up to 105,000 passengers.
The BA has not commented directly on the Telegraph’s report.
Airlines and airports across Europe are struggling to keep up with strong post-pandemic demand from holidaymakers, causing chaos for travelers and forcing Heathrow and Gatwick to impose their own capacity limits.
The British government called on airlines last week to run “realistic” summer schedules to ensure that recent scenes of chaos at airports are avoided during the upcoming holiday season.
Britain also last month temporarily relaxed rules around check-in boxes at airports to allow airlines to set realistic flight schedules and avoid last-minute cancellations.
FKN