One of the world's busiest airports has cancelled flights because it expects more passengers to turn up than it can safely handle

• Airlines were told to cancel flights on Thursday due to safety concerns.

• The hub expects more passengers than it can serve.

• The problem has been caused by the cancellation of flights at other airports.

The UK's largest airport asked airlines to cut flights on Thursday because it doesn't have enough capacity to handle the increase in passengers.

The airlines were asked to reduce flights on Thursday due to safety concerns.

"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 today only."

Some passengers said they didn't find out until they arrived at the airport on Thursday.

As the global airline industry struggles to cope with summer travel demand, passengers are left with more misery.

Long-running shortages of pilots, baggage handlers, and customer service workers have left many operators and hubs short of capacity at a time when travel demand is at its peak.

The result has been a lot of flight delays and canceled flights.

Insider was told that Thursday's passenger numbers were expected to be more than the previous week's.

The increase was caused by a spike in last-minute bookings from passengers who have had flights canceled at other airports, according to the spokesman.

The number of passengers the airport expects to handle this year has been increased from 52.2 million to 54.4 million.

It could take as long as 18 months for the industry to reach capacity according to John Holland- Kaye.

British Airways routes were the majority of the affected flights. The summer schedule has been reduced.

The UK government wants airports to stop canceling flights. The Department for Transport (DfT) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sent a letter to industry executives urging them to develop a schedule that is deliverable.

The UK government loosened the rules regarding landing slots at airports. At most 70% of the time, airlines have to use take-off and landing slots. It will be possible for airlines to return slots without fear of losing them permanently.

Business Insider has an article on it.