Heathrow: Thousands of people are facing flight cancellations due to a baggage backlog

• Thousands of Brits flying out of Heathrow Airport are facing holiday misery once more today.
• Luggage handling concerns forced the cancellation of dozens of flights.
• A ‘baggage mountain’ is photographed at the London airport.

Thousands of Brits flying out of Heathrow Airport are facing holiday misery once more today, as luggage handling concerns forced the cancellation of dozens of flights.

A ‘baggage mountain’ is photographed at the London airport, with travel misery continuing across the country.

A spokesman for the airport stated that airlines at terminals two and three have been instructed to cancel 10% of their flights today.

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Meanwhile, as a result of the ongoing congestion at UK airports, EasyJet has stated that it will reduce more flights from Gatwick this summer.

According to The Independent, roughly 15,000 passengers on 90 flights at Heathrow are facing disruptions today due to a luggage handling meltdown.

Staff are working to remove a weekend backlog, as seen by images of a ‘baggage mountain’ at the airport. Huge lines could also be seen in Terminal Two, according to photos.

And the troubles appear to be poised to continue over the summer, with EasyJet announcing this morning that it would be cancelling scheduled flights from London Gatwick in order to address operational issues such as staff shortages. Customers will be alerted and given the option to rebook, according to the airline.

It also follows the implementation of a flight cap at Gatwick and Schipol in Amsterdam, where certain flights will be cancelled.

EasyJet apologized for the inconvenience, but warned that it will have a financial impact.

Read more: Heathrow airport eyes fresh loss despite recovery

Many of the troubles encountered at airports in recent months have been blamed on air traffic control delays, employee shortages in ground handling and at terminals, and extended periods for new recruit identity checks.

However, the delays and cancellations came after the industry laid off a large number of employees during the Covid crisis, and is now struggling to rehire them.

Gatwick stated last week that throughout July and August, it will reduce the number of daily flights to cope with staffing shortages.

‘In response to these caps and to increase resilience, easyJet is proactively consolidating a handful of flights across affected airports,’ the airline stated.

‘This gives customers advance notification and the option to change flights.’

The airline also stated that it hopes to be able to rebook ‘the bulk’ of passengers on other flights, with ‘many on the same day.’

Read more: Heathrow Airport: ‘Enormous luggage carpet’ after baggage system issue

The company now expects capacity to be about 87 percent of what it was in 2019, and approximately 90 percent in the fourth quarter.

It had previously stated that it intended to operate 90% of 2019 this quarter and roughly 97% in the fourth.