CEO John Holland-Kaye announced the “difficult decision” in an open letter to passengers, saying that “in recent weeks, as the number of departing passengers has regularly exceeded 100,000 a day, we have begun to see periods when the service drops to a level that is not acceptable … Our colleagues are doing more to keep as many passengers away as possible, but we cannot put them at risk for their own safety and well-being “.
Many airlines have been working to reduce the number of passengers entering and leaving Heathrow. But Holland-Kaye said the latest Heathrow forecast showed that too many seats had already been sold and therefore airlines had to stop selling tickets now.
“Despite the amnesty, the daily exit seats during the summer will average 104,000, which is a daily excess of 4,000 seats. On average, only about 1,500 of these 4,000 seats are currently sold. daily passengers, so we ask our airlines to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers. “
In 2018, the daily number of passengers passing through Heathrow was about 220,000, divided between arrivals and departures.
Lufthansa (DLAKY), which has already canceled thousands of departures from Frankfurt and Munich for the summer season, said it could make more adjustments to its schedule “for traffic peaks in August”.
“Lufthansa has made a remarkable contribution to relieving airports, including London Heathrow,” a spokesman told CNN Business.
The head of the International Air Transport Association, the group representing global airlines, called Heathrow’s travel restrictions “ridiculous”.
“The airlines have predicted stronger traffic than Heathrow had predicted … they have clearly been completely wrong,” said Willie Walsh, director general of IATA. “Tell the airlines to stop selling, what could be more ridiculous for an airport to tell an airline.”
Walsh, the former CEO of British Airways IAG owner, added: “Heathrow is trying to maximize the profitability they get from the airport at the expense of the airlines.”
A Heathrow spokesman rejected Willie Walsh’s comments and told Reuters: “Aviation is under considerable pressure as demand increases; at Heathrow we have faced 40 years of growth in just four months and what we need. it is collaborative work and investment in services to protect passengers, not misinformed comments from retired heads of airlines “.
– Sharon Browne-Peter contributed to the report.