British Airways to cancel thousands more flights

British Airways (BA) has announced it will be making “some further cancellations” up to the end of October, and cutting thousands of flights from its winter schedule.

It follows the decision by Heathrow to continue its passenger cap, introduced in July because of staff shortages.

More than 600 round trips will be cancelled up to 29 October.

A BA spokesperson said: “While the vast majority of our customers will travel as planned, and we’re protecting key holiday destinations over half-term, we will need to make some further cancellations up to the end of October.”

They added: “In addition, we’re giving customers travelling with us this winter notice of some adjustments to our schedule, which will include consolidating some of our short-haul flights to destinations with multiple services.

“We’ll be offering customers affected by any of these changes an alternative flight with British Airways or another airline, or the option of a refund.”

Total capacity for the winter schedule until the end of March will be reduced by 8% and impact around 10,000 flights.

Sky News understands that customers booked for winter will still be able to travel, and are being given several months’ notice of any changes.

The passenger cap has already seen thousands of seats removed from sale amid concerns that it may increase demand and inflate prices with rival firms.

Tens of thousands of flights have been cancelled this summer as the industry struggles to cope with the demand for air travel amid staffing shortages.

In an unprecedented move earlier this month, BA announced a temporary pause in selling new tickets for short-haul flights from Heathrow.

Issues with at the UK’s largest and busiest airport led to budget carrier Ryanair adding more than 500 flights serving the smaller London Stansted during the October half-term.