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ritons are set for further travel chaos amid new plans to ground more flights next week just in time for the start of the summer holidays.
Due to ongoing travel problems in the industry, it is understood that airlines using Heathrow are now scrambling to rework their flight schedules.
According to The Daily Telegraph, British Airways is expected to face the brunt of canceled flights, while Heathrow has until this Friday to finalize its flight schedule.
It is understood that flights canceled or removed from airline schedules after Friday’s deadline will not be included in the slot amnesty.
Last month’s flight amnesty allowed airlines to return landing and take-off slots if they could not use them, even though they had bought slots before the season.
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Commenting on the news, however, British Airways said it “welcomes these new measures”.
An airline spokesman told the PA news agency that the cancellation would “help us provide the security our customers deserve by facilitating the consolidation of some of our quieter daily flights to multi-frequency destinations much earlier”.
(Amer Ghazzal/Alamy/PA)
The airline previously planned to carry 1.8 million passengers on more than 9,000 flights from Heathrow in July alone.
The airline told PA it welcomed the new measures, adding that the easing of slots – which are allocated twice a year to airports – would help BA “protect more of our holiday flights”.
“Slot relief allows airlines to temporarily reduce their schedules but still retain their slots for next year to maintain networks and provide customers with certainty and consistency,” BA said in a statement.
“Allocating slots under the (World Airport Slot Guide System) means airlines can offer the consistent services and efficient connections that consumers are looking for and protect jobs and create growth in the UK.”
(Amer Ghazzal/Alamy/PA)
It comes after another week of “travel chaos” at Heathrow, when the airport ordered flights canceled because it could not fulfill them.
Airport passengers complained of long queues, canceled flights and lost luggage on Thursday and Friday as “scheduling interference” and disruptions at UK airports were exacerbated by strikes in Spain.
The threat of strike action also continues to loom in Britain after union members voted overwhelmingly to strike over pay – although no dates have been announced.
BA staff are demanding 10 per cent of the pay they had ‘stolen’ from them last year as they faced ‘fire and re-hire’ tactics during the pandemic.
Last month, the government outlined a 22-point plan to support the aviation industry. It sets out all the measures the government is taking to support the aviation industry, including to: support the recruitment and training of staff; providing a realistic summer schedule; minimizing disruption; passenger support when delays and cancellations are unavoidable.
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