Heathrow limits passenger numbers over summer

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In order to cope with the rebound in demand for air travel, the UK's biggest airport is limiting the number of passengers who can leave each day.

There will be no more than 100,000 people a day allowed to leave.

The number of daily passengers is 4,000 less than anticipated.

The airlines were told to stop selling summer tickets.

Thousands of UK travellers have been disrupted recently.

Demand for holidays has caused airlines and airports to struggle to find staff. The summer holiday season in the UK begins in a few weeks.

John Holland- Kaye said that action is needed to ensure safe and reliable journeys for passengers.

Over the past few weeks, as departing passenger numbers have consistently exceeded 100,000 a day, we have started to see periods when service drops to a level that is not acceptable: long queue times, delays for passengers requiring assistance, bags not travelling with passengers or arriving late, low punctuality and last-

The maximum number of daily departing passengers that airlines, airline ground handler and the airport can collectively serve over the summer is no more than 100,000.

According to the latest forecasts, the daily departures over the summer will average 104,000, giving a daily excess of 4,000 seats. We are asking our airline partners to stop selling summer tickets in order to limit the impact on passengers.

The May chaos was caused by a shortage of airline and airport staff.

The temporary government "amnesty" to the rules on airport slots allowed airlines to change schedules without facing a penalty.