One of the UK's leading airlines has announced that it will stop selling short-haul flights from London Heathrow in an unprecedented move that will see the flights off-sale until August 16.
The move to remove short-haul British Airways flights from sale is due to a new cap that limits daily passenger numbers over the summer.
The suspension will affect the airline's domestic and European destinations.
British Airways, which operates more than half of its flights from the airport, said in a statement that it had taken "pre-emptive action to reduce our schedule this summer to give customers certainty about their travel plans".
"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," the airline said.
The company added that it would "continue to manage bookings to be within the Heathrow imposed cap".
Airports and airlines have found it difficult to cope with demand and staffing issues this summer following job cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thousands of travellers across the UK have faced disruptions, including delays and cancellations, due to staff shortages and baggage issues.
In July, Heathrow asked airlines to stop selling tickets for this summer as it was set to limit the number of passengers departing each day to 100,000 - 4,000 fewer than previously scheduled.
Can you still get flights you've already booked?
So far, no additional flights have been cancelled as a result of BA's latest announcement.
Passengers with existing bookings will still be able to travel from Heathrow and inbound flights will not be affected.
As BA has only paused the sale of short-haul flights, long-haul options are still on sale for travellers.
You can stay up-to-date with the latest BA and Heathrow cancellations by visiting heathrow.com.
When will the travel cap end?
The cap on numbers is set to remain in place until September 11, but the date remains under review.
There is currently no cap on incoming passenger numbers, but a reduction on flights to minimise empty plane seats.
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