Airlines and the travel industry are up in arms at Heathrow Airport’s warning that it may implement another passenger cap over the Christmas holidays.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of The Advantage Travel Partnership, is among those speaking out against the proposal, describing the airport as the Grinch of Christmas.
"Travellers and businesses are reliant on having a fully functional Heathrow at this peak time, whether they are travelling to see family and loved ones, business travellers or holidaymakers, and the airport should be ensuring that they are planning adequately to meet demand," she said.
The airport is still determined to avoid a Christmas cap if possible, but faces a huge logistical challenge in having to train 25 000 new staff to cope with skyrocketing travel demand.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson pointed out that Heathrow had a poor track record in predicting passenger volumes, as it anticipated receiving 45 million passengers throughout 2022, whereas it now looks set to reach over 62 million.
"It continues to downplay the strength of returning passenger demand to further its agenda of securing higher charges ahead of the Civil Aviation Authority’s final decision," the spokesperson said.
Virgin Atlantic said in a statement: "Airlines have repeatedly warned of the need to use accurate forecasts to inform airport resourcing. By maintaining a deliberately pessimistic outlook, customers risk a poorer airport experience.
“The airport artificially constrained supply in peak summer season to counter a lack of adequate preparation and to win an economic argument that would double passenger charges, despite being the world’s most expensive airport."
Heathrow maintains that travel demand for the whole of 2022 is still likely to finish at about 25% below 2019 levels, and will not return to those pre-pandemic levels for a number of years still. However, it still succeeded in turning a profit in the first three quarters of this year of £643m (R13,42bn), whereas in the same period last year, it reported a loss of £1,4bn (R29,21bn).
For now, there is no longer any cap on departing passengers, as the recent three-month cap has drawn to a close.
