London's Heathrow airport extends passenger limits until late October as travel strains continue into the fall

Passengers wearing face masks as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus arrive at Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 in London, August 3,, 2021.

As Britain's busiest hub grapples with staff shortages and a surge of travelers, London Heathrow airport has extended limits on departing passengers.

The airport can't handle more than 100,000 passengers per day. The caps were supposed to end after Sept. 11.

"We want to remove the cap as soon as possible, but we can only do so when we are confident that everyone operating at the airport has the resources to deliver the service our passengers deserve," Ross Baker said in a statement.

The airport said that since it first established capacity limits, there have been fewer last-minute cancellation.

Staffing shortages after more than two years of the Covid pandemic collided with an onslaught of passengers throughout Europe this summer, causing long lines and other headaches.

Europe's airports have taken similar measures.

Some airlines, including American, are barring the use of some employee flight perks out of London and warning staff about difficulties finding seats using their travel benefits out of some European airports.