After consultation with the airlines, the capacity limit of 100,000 daily passengers has been extended at Heathrow until October 29. The airport management say that the extension has been agreed because, since it’s introduction, passenger trips have improved with “fewer last minute cancellations, better punctuality and shorter waiting times for baggage”.
However, the airport has said that the capacity limits will be reviewed periodically and could be lifted sooner if there is a substantial increase in resources, especially with the airline ground handling services, which “remain a fundamental limitation of capacity.
As a result of the Heathrow extension low cost carrier Ryanair has said that it will add 500 new flights during the Autumn from it’s main base of operations at Stansted airport
The measure will increase its air traffic by 100,000 passengers in Stansted, with more routes to destinations in Spain, Italy, Portugal, France and Greece, according to its CEO, Michael O’Leary, today.
Ryanair today stressed that Stansted has “more than enough staff” to operate the 500 new flights.
“While a desperate Heathrow continues to cut flights and make tickets more expensive for families, Ryanair and Stansted continue to add flights and offer thousands of low-fare seats for the autumn holidays,” O’Leary said.
Since July, the largest airport in the United Kingdom has limited the number of passengers who can take off from its facilities to 100,000 each day, a measure that, according to it’s management, has made it possible to improve the punctuality of flights and reduce last -minute cancellations.
Thousands of journeys were previously cancelled during the early summer months due to a lack of staff in airlines and airport facilities, and during the first weeks of the summer images of long queues at Heathrow arrivals and collapsed baggage management systems were a regular feature in the British media.
