By More flight cancellations expected to ease summer travel disruption
Airlines are expected to cancel more flights in the coming months in the hopes of easing the widespread travel disruption.
Until Friday a government ‘amnesty’ is in place that allows airlines to cancel and alter flight schedules without facing a potential penalty.
Airport slots provide airlines with the authorisation to take off or land at a specified time on a specified day but in usual circumstances, the carriers risk losing the slots if they cancel flights.
Ministers told carriers to review their plans after chaos in May, which was blamed on a shortage of airline and airport staff.
The Department for Transport (DfT) amnesty gives airlines a short window to hand back the slots in the summer season if they feel they cannot operate.
A DfT spokesperson said: “This will help passengers find alternative arrangements ahead of time, rather than face the kind of last-minute cancellations seen over the Easter and half-term holidays.”
That government and aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, wrote to airlines following the major disruption telling them to ensure their summer timetables were “deliverable… based on the resources you and your contractors expect to have available”.
Heathrow said the slot amnesty would “enable airlines to make early choices to consolidate their schedules, boosting the resilience of summer operations and giving passengers the confidence they deserve ahead of their journeys”.
It added: “We encourage airlines to take this opportunity to reconsider their summer schedules without penalty and inform passengers as early as possible of any changes.”
However, passengers could still face disruption as check-in staff at Heathrow recently voted to take strike action in July over pay disputes.
Many airports have seen shcokingly long check-in and security queues in recent months, as some warn that they will not be able to operate at pre-pandemic levels until autumn.
