The flow of passengers through London Heathrow has improved after the airport imposed a cap on flights, its chief executive has said.
“The summer has got off to a really good start,” John Holland-Kaye told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday.
He was speaking as the UK’s busiest airport reported results for the six months to the end of June, with profits bouncing back from a pandemic-hit performance last year. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, interest and amortisation rose to £744mn, from a loss a year earlier of £33mn. Revenue rose to £1.3bn from £348mn in the half year.
The group in its statement said “airline ground handling shortage is now the constraint on Heathrow’s capacity”. The numbers of ground handling staff have fallen sharply over the past two years as airlines cut costs during the pandemic, it said.
Heathrow estimates that airline ground handlers have “no more than 70 per cent of pre-pandemic resource, and there has been no increase in numbers since January”.
Holland-Kaye blamed airlines for the problem. Operations were…
