British Airways pauses short-haul flight sales from Heathrow

LONDON (AP) — British Airways said Tuesday that it's suspending sales of short-haul flights from London's Heathrow Airport for about a week, a response to the airport's request to limit bookings to help ease travel disruptions caused by booming demand and staff shortages.

The suspension applies to new bookings to domestic United Kingdom and European destinations departing from Heathrow, Britain's busiest airport, until Monday.

British Airways said the move applies to short-haul flights only, generally defined as up to three hours, which would rule out a host of cities such as Manchester, Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Zurich.

Passengers, however, can still book short-haul flights to the airport.

The airline said it was taking action after Heathrow capped daily departing passenger numbers at 100,000 until September 11. The airport asked airlines to stop selling tickets and cut flights, stirring criticism.

Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, meanwhile, said it's extending its daily passenger cap into October.

Passenger traffic at European airports has boomed after two years of pandemic travel restrictions, but airports and airlines haven't been able to keep up because they laid off many thousands of staff amid the depths of COVID-19. Heathrow and Schiphol have been among the hardest hit.

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