London Heathrow Airport to continue capacity limits until October 29

London Heathrow Airport has said it will extend the existing limits on the airport’s capacity through to October 29.

In July, Heathrow introduced temporary capacity limits to improve passenger journeys over the summer break.

The airport said the cap has resulted in fewer last-minute cancellations, better punctuality and shorter waits for bags.

Several other airports, including Gatwick, Frankfurt and Schiphol have also put in place similar capacity limits. Schiphol has also extended its cap through to the end of October.

The capacity limits will be kept under regular review and could be lifted earlier should there be a sustained picture of better resilience and a material increase in resourcing levels, notably at some airline ground handlers which remains a core constraint on capacity at the airport.

Heathrow Airport also launched a review of airline ground handling last week. As part of an overall review, the airport will be working with airlines and ground handlers to understand how they “can unlock more capacity in this critical part of the airport”, enabling the airport to meet passenger demand.

Heathrow chief commercial officer Ross Baker said: “Our primary concern is ensuring we give our passengers a reliable service when they travel. That’s why we introduced temporary capacity limits in July which have already improved journeys during the summer getaway.

“We want to remove the cap as soon as possible, but we can only do so when we are confident that everyone operating at the airport has the resources to deliver the service our passengers deserve.”

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