Huge queues at Heathrow Airport as staff shortages see flights cancelled

STAFF shortages have caused even more queues to form at Heathrow Airport as travel chaos continues this summer.

The airport was forced to cancel flights this morning due to there being “higher passenger numbers than the airport has capacity serve”.

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Videos and images shared on social media showed the huge lines forming as passengers waited to get through security gates.

One Twitter user claimed the queues for security actually stretched outside the building.

Another commented: “Never seen anything like this. This is part of the security line at #Heathrow Terminal 2. Minimal customer service, people don’t know where to go and some are cutting the line.”

Amid the chaos, 30 airlines were told they had to cancel flights today during the morning peak.

This is expected to affect as many as 5,000 passengers who will be told at short notice of the cancellations.

While Heathrow hasn’t confirmed which airlines have been affected the most, British Airways said a “handful” of their flights have been.

Virgin Atlantic also said two of their flights had been affected, while Delta, Lufthansa , KLM, American Airlines, Aer Lingus and Air France are among the airlines with cancelled routes.

A spokesperson for the airport told Sun Online Travel: “We are expecting higher passenger numbers in today’s morning peak than the airport currently has capacity to serve, and so to keep everyone safe we have asked airlines to remove 30 flights from the morning peak for tomorrow only.

“We will work with airlines to get affected passengers rebooked onto other flights outside of the peak so that as many as possible can get away tomorrow, and we apologise for the impact this has on travel plans.

“We are expecting higher passenger numbers in today’s morning peak than the airport currently has capacity to serve, and so to keep everyone safe we have asked airlines to remove 30 flights from the morning peak for tomorrow only.

“We will work with airlines to get affected passengers rebooked onto other flights outside of the peak so that as many as possible can get away tomorrow, and we apologise for the impact this has on travel plans.

“We are working hard to ensure everyone has a smooth journey through Heathrow this summer, and the most important thing is to make sure that all service providers at the airport have enough resources to meet demand.”

Due to the short notice cancellation, Brits will be able to claim compensation if caught up in the chaos under EU 261 regulations.

“CHAOS”

The cancellations come just days after Heathrow descended into chaos with suitcases abandoned across terminals.

Shocking images showed the disarray passengers attempted to navigate, with thousands of suitcases deserted at both arrivals and departures.

Other airports have had to reduce their schedule too, with Gatwick cancelling 4,000 flights in advance this summer.

Airlines have also been forced to cancel thousands of flights in recent months due to staff shortages.

BA confirmed that 16,000 flights between March and October would be cancelled to prevent short-notice cancellations.

Both easyJet and TUI were also forced to cancel hundreds of flights this month, with easyJet warning they could cut another 10,000 this summer.

Lufthansa, who originally confirmed they would cancel 900 flights this summer, announced another 2,200 would be cut.

And more chaos is expected this summer due to strike action – some 16,000 BA workers are threatening to join 700 Heathrow Airport check-in staff in a planned walk-out.

Staff problems have affected other airlines as well, with Aer Lingus struggling due a covid-19 outbreak.

Elsewhere, Brits can now avoid big airport queues in Spain due to this change in rules.

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