Heathrow says it needs 25,000 more staff

Heathrow has warned that a cap on passenger numbers could be reintroduced on some of the busiest days to avoid travel chaos over Christmas.

Europe’s busiest airport also admitted it is still 25,000 staff short to cope with passenger numbers at peak times.

The airport operator, which is due to lift the current 100,000 passenger per day cap introduced during the summer holiday travel chaos from Sunday, said it was in talks with airlines over a cap on “peak days in the lead up to Christmas”.

It explained: “We are working with airlines to agree a highly targeted mechanism that, if needed, would align supply and demand on a small number of peak days in the lead up to Christmas. This would encourage demand into less busy periods, protecting the heavier peaks, and avoiding flight cancellations due to resource pressures.”

Speaking on BBC radio 4’s Today programme, Heathrow’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “We don’t want to have a cap at all, we want to get back to full capacity as soon as possible. The reason for having a cap is to make sure we keep supply and demand in balance. It was absolutely the right thing to do over the summer.

“It’s been a better summer than people had expected. The service was much better than people expected, almost back to 2019 levels, based on the feedback people give us. The passenger numbers were also better and we went from being one of the quietest airports in Europe to the busiest airport in Europe. Unfortunately we are still loss making but I hope if we can get the right regulatory settlement that can change. But it’s not been easy, it’s definitely been challenging.”