Gatwick Airport will reduce its summer capacity to avoid potential chaos, after dozens of last-minute cancellations ruined tourists’ travel plans during the platinum jubilee and mid-term holidays.
London’s second busiest airport will limit the number of daily take-offs and landings to 850 in August, about 50 more than the average in early June, but more than 10% below its pre-pandemic peak. .
The airport is easyJet’s largest base, operating more than half of Gatwick’s slots, and the airline said it would review the details. You may have to cut back on your summer hours after making hundreds of last minute cancellations, more than any other UK company, in the last few weeks due to multiple issues.
The move comes after the Department of Transportation and the Civil Aviation Authority called on the industry this week to make sure flights for sale were “deliverable” and asked airport executives to set up groups. working with airlines and ground operators to minimize the risk of summer disruption.
Gatwick said it was “temporarily moderating its growth rate” to allow airlines to “manage more predictable and reliable flight schedules” for the maximum summer vacation period.
An airport review found that several companies would still have a severe shortage of staff resources during the summer, which could have caused airport passengers to “continue to experience an unreliable and potentially poor level of service.” , including more queues, delays and last minute cancellations.
It is understood that the ground service companies employed by the airlines to manage the check-in areas, turn the planes at the aerodrome and manage the luggage were the main concern.
Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said there had been a “significant turnaround” in the number of flights, quadrupling since January, and that the airport had reopened its south terminal and recruited 400 new employees. for security.
“All the major airports were extended in half a week and we are no exception. We are now asking airlines to schedule only the flights they trust to operate.”
He said there were now more air traffic controllers in Gatwick than in 2019, and that Gatwick had security staff now to handle 900 daily flights. But he added: “It is clear that during the jubilee week several companies operating at the airport struggled, in particular due to staff shortages. By taking decisive action now, we intend to help ground operators, and also our airlines, to better match their flight schedules with the available resources.
“As has been the case, the vast majority of flights during the summer will operate normally.”
An easyJet spokesperson said: “We are aware of the capacity limit announced by Gatwick and are now reviewing the details to assess what this means for easyJet’s Gatwick operation.
“We recognize the need for Gatwick to do this, as Europe’s airports have visibility to all airlines and are well placed to decide what capacity is realistic in today’s challenging operating environment, so all airlines can offer services. reliable to their customers.
“Given the high frequency of our services to and from Gatwick, we look forward to picking up the majority of customers whose flights are affected by the limit.”
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, another major European base for easyJet, was expected to make a similar announcement, limiting the total number of daily passengers this summer. Customers have faced huge queues and widespread cancellations over the past few weeks.
The industry has blamed the chaos on labor shortages and the difficulty of eliminating enough new recruits through background security checks, as travel demand recovered when restrictions were lifted abruptly after the pandemic. .