Heathrow rules out Christmas flight cap after airline backlash

London’s Heathrow airport ruled out ad hoc caps on flights in the run-up to the festive season following talks with ground-handling firms and airlines that had opposed the move.

Europe’s busiest hub now has a “good plan in place” for the Christmas peak which will not require a ceiling on flights, it said in a traffic update Friday.

Heathrow removed a blanket cap on flights made necessary by a staffing crisis at the end of last month, while warning that curbs might be needed on peak days before the holidays. That triggered a backlash from carriers, with Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., the hub’s second-biggest operator, pledging to resist any further interruption of its services.

A Heathrow spokesman said that following additional recruitment and the clarification of airline schedules, it’s now clear that capacity will be adequate to meet demand, requiring no special measures. The winter peak spans only about 10 days, compared with about three months for summer.

Heathrow also plans to reduce landing charges on domestic British routes next year in a move it said will “support more connections to the UK’s regions and nations.” Loganair, the second-biggest carrier on intra-UK routes, is one early beneficiary of the change.

Heathrow said that at current rates of recruitment it should reach pre-pandemic employment levels before next year’s summer peak. The airport attracted 5.9 million passengers in October or 84% of the 2019 number.