British Airways has canceled at least 64 domestic or European flights to or from Heathrow. Affected UK routes included Heathrow to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle, while international routes affected were to and from Berlin, Dublin, Geneva, Stockholm and Paris. British Airways said passengers had received advance notice of cancellations. EasyJet canceled at least 25 flights to and from Gatwick, affecting flights between West Sussex and Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Glasgow and Milan airports. The low-cost airline said the cancellations were made “in advance to allow customers to re-book alternative flights”. Long queues have formed at some UK airports over the past week, with many families traveling abroad for the Easter school holidays – often for the first time since travel restrictions were lifted. Travelers at Manchester Airport have had high expectations. On Monday, Heathrow – which aims to hire 12,000 staff to deal with the expected summer holiday boom – acknowledged that resources were “folded” as the increase in bookings created long delays during the Easter holidays. “After a very weak January and February, the number of passengers in March was the highest since the pandemic began, after all travel restrictions were lifted by the government, making the United Kingdom the first country in the world to do so.” mentioned the airport. “The aviation sector is rebuilding capacity in anticipation of a summer peak, so resources are being expanded. “Heathrow works closely with airlines and ground companies to ensure that this increase in demand can be met while keeping passengers safe.” Heathrow said demand has risen from weekend trips and school holidays as the public “takes full advantage of the freedom to travel and redeem travel vouchers canceled during Covid”. Heathrow was used by 4.2 million travelers in March, up 675% from the same month last year. In February 2020, the month before the start of the pandemic that resulted in the government imposing travel restrictions, 5.4 million were used. The year to the end of March, the total number of passengers reached 27.3 million, an increase of almost 200% over the previous 12 months. The airport has projected 45 million passengers this year, just over half the pre-pandemic levels. However, the airport said holidays and business trips from foreign countries remained weak due to high Covid levels in the UK and the requirement to take a test before returning home. Last month, Heathrow said it was launching a recruitment effort to deal with a travel explosion that would result in a few days at the airport returning to passenger levels just before the pandemic. However, the airport said it would feel much busier due to additional checks before departure. “Half of the world’s markets still require inspections for Covid, including testing, vaccination status and quarantine, which is particularly congested at peak check-in areas,” the airport said in a statement on Monday. “Heathrow advises passengers to contact their airline to confirm when they should arrive at the airport. “Other airport processes are currently working on the planning and Heathrow is working with the Border Force to ensure that there are sufficient levels of resources to handle the large number of passengers returning to the UK in the next two weeks.” Heathrow, which plans to reopen Terminal 4 before July, said last month that it was “particularly concerned about the Border Force’s ability to escalate to meet demand” for the summer crowds. Failures in electronic passport portals as well as additional Covid requirements have at times caused long queues in immigration chambers. “It’s fantastic to see the airport come back to life after two years and I want to thank all the colleagues on the Heathrow team who have worked together to serve our passengers,” said John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow. “Everyone at Heathrow is doing what we can to ensure that passengers get on their way as smoothly and safely as possible.” Subscribe to the daily Business Today email or follow the Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk As the airline industry continues to recover, passengers are facing fare increases after the Civil Aviation Authority approved a 37% increase in landing charges at Heathrow from January. The intermediate increase, from 22 £ to 30.19 £ per passenger, was less than the airport requested, but nevertheless angered the airlines. Willie Walls, a former chief executive of British Airways’s parent company, which now heads the international airline, the International Air Transport Association, has accused Heathrow of “outraging” its customers. Last year, Holland-Kaye said between 15,000 and 25,000 jobs were lost across the airport, including with airline partners such as British Airways, in the first year of the pandemic.
