Gatwick Airport reduces summer flights due to staff shortages
London’s Gatwick airport announced Friday that it will reduce the number of flights during July and August, the busiest months, due to staff shortages and to provide passengers with better service.
The airport said in a statement that it will limit the number of daily flights in July to 825 and 850 in August, down from 900 a day in the same months in previous years.
→ Heathrow Airport reached 79% of pre-pandemic levels in May.
In its note, Gatwick specified that the decision was taken following a review of its operations, which is why it has opted to “temporarily moderate its growth rate” for two months so that passengers “experience a better and more reliable level of service”.
According to Gatwick, the measure will help airlines better manage their flight schedules, EFE reported.
At the end of May, coinciding with a week of school vacations and the Platinum Jubilee (the 70th anniversary of the throne of Elizabeth II), British airports experienced a chaotic situation with numerous flight cancellations and delays due to a lack of staff to attend flights and security checks.
→ First remote air traffic control center to be built in U.S.
In the wake of the pandemic, many airlines cut jobs and are now struggling to recruit staff at a time of a strong travel revival.
“We are working closely with our airlines to avoid disruption to passengers this summer, and while more newly recruited staff will start work in the coming weeks, we know it will be a summer of traffic,” Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said Friday.
“However, it is clear that during Jubilee week, a number of companies operating at the airport had particular problems due to staff shortages. By taking decisive action now, our aim is to help ground handling services, and also our airlines, to better match their flight schedules to the resources available.”
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