Amsterdam Schiphol airport is extending a limit on daily departing passengers through September and October, as it seeks to minimise disruption amid the recovery. The hub will process a maximum of 67,500 departing passengers per day in September, rising to 69,500 in October – figures broadly aligned with airlines’ projections for the period. "This has been the subject of extensive consultation with airlines in the recent period," notes Schiphol. It will actually process fewer passengers than in August. when 73,000 travellers per day were permitted to depart daily. It links the reduction to the seasonal effect of passengers wearing "more clothes, such as coats, hiking boots and vests", stating: "As a result, it takes a little longer to check all the hand baggage and the passengers." Schiphol adds that "virtually all parties at the airport are understaffed", with the result that delays and faults ripple through the entire process. September and October include a two-week autumn holiday period, set to create an excess of around 3,500 local departing passengers on those dates, it adds. Schiphol is taking the action as it seeks to ensure a reliable customer journey through the airport that minimises disruption. Like many airports across Europe and globally, Schiphol has struggled to cope with the demand from passengers as the recovery has ramped up through the summer. "Based on the capacity made available by Schiphol, the independent slot co-ordinator (ACNL) will consult with all airlines to ensure that the number of passengers is appropriate in relation to the security capacity," it says. It highlights that the number of available security staff continues to rise, with 200 new positions beginning recruitment this month and a further 80 in October.

British Airways has made preparations to begin restricting ticket sales to long-haul destinations as part of its strategy to comply with a 100,000-passenger limit on daily departures from Heathrow. The IAG-owned airline says its main focus is on reducing short-haul passenger numbers but warns that, because of the number of flights it operates, it may be required to axe services or ticket sales on some long-haul route and dates. Heathrow has imposed the cap on departing passenger numbers until 11 September as part effort to minimise disruption to travellers as it ramps up from the pandemic. BA had already cancelled a wave of services through the summer even before the cap, but is now also limiting the number of seats it sells on its flights. It recently announced that it would suspend short-haul ticket sales on services from Heathrow until 8 August, action that has now been extended by a week to the 15th. "We took pre-emptive action to reduce our schedule this summer to give customers certainty about their travel plans and to build more resilience into our operation given the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry," says the airline. "When Heathrow introduced its passenger cap, we took a small number of additional flights from our schedule and to continue to comply with the cap, we've been taking responsible action by limiting sales or all the available fares on some of our Heathrow services to ensure more seats are available to rebook customers. We'll continue to manage bookings to be within the Heathrow imposed cap so we can get our customers away as planned this summer." BA adds that it is constantly reviewing the number of customers departing from Heathrow in order to match numbers with the cap. As well as staying within the limit, by restricting the number of seats for sale on certain dates and enacting wider ticket-sale suspensions, BA hopes to protect existing bookings and minimise operational disruption.

British Airways is suspending the sale of short haul-tickets from London Heathrow until 8 August, following the airport's decision to limit passenger numbers to 100,000 per day this summer. The move will limit passengers on domestic and European routes, and follows months of disruption as airport capacity struggled to cope with a recovery in demand. "As a result of Heathrow's request to limit new bookings, we've decided to take responsible action and limit the available fares on some Heathrow services to help maximise rebooking options for existing customers, given the restrictions imposed on us and the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry," says BA. Up to now, the IAG-owned airline has been largely unaffected by the imposition of a daily passenger cap at Heathrow, having already pre-planned flight cancellations during the summer. In a results briefing on 29 July, IAG noted that BA had cancelled 16,000 flights over the period May to October, representing 10% of its scheduled services, of which 85% were short-haul and 15% long-haul. Amid a second "pre-emptive reduction" phase in June, 1,900 flights were cancelled – mainly in July – representing 1% of the total. As a result of these moves, when Heathrow introduced the 100,000-passenger daily cap on 12 July BA was required to cancel only 0.5% of flights to comply, the airline said.