British Airways STOPS selling Heathrow flights until next week

BRITISH Airways has suspended selling short-haul flights from London Heathrow until a least next week.

The UK flag carrier has stopped the sale of the tickets due to the current cap on flights at Heathrow Airport.

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British Airways has stopped selling short-haul flights from Heathrow until next week[/caption]

The airport is currently limiting their daily flights to 100,000, down from 104,000, until at least October.

In response, British Airways initially stoped sales last weekend, but has extended this to August 8, and could be extended further.

A British Airways spokesperson told Sun Online Travel: “As a result of Heathrow’s request to limit new bookings, we’ve decided to take responsible action and limit the available fares on some Heathrow services to help maximise rebooking options for existing customers, given the restrictions imposed on us and the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry.”

Not only does this mean Brits will struggle to book flights, but those currently on sale will soar in price due to demand.

Head for Points edito Rob Burgess warned: “With Heathrow’s cap on passenger numbers due to last until at least mid-September, it is very possible that we will see ticket sales restricted for the rest of the summer – at least until we get past the August bank holiday weekend.

“BA was always going to struggle to meet its share of the Heathrow passenger cap, given that holiday seats are usually sold well in advance.”

Heathrow initially said airlines must stop flogging summer tickets with a view to cut 4,000 passenger departures.

The airport previously even ordered airlines to consider booting holidaymakers off flights to bring an end to travel chaos engulfing the UK.

A source told the Telegraph: “In effect, passengers face being bumped off flights that do take off.”

It’s not just BA – Lufthansa also reduced their flight sales last month too.

Thousands of flights and holidays have been cancelled amid travel hell in Britain, while droves of Brits have reported how airports are losing their luggage as a wave of chaos grips the nation’s terminals.

And strike action is threatening to disrupt holiday plans further.

Ryanair crew in Spain are threatening walkouts until January while BA pilots are threatening to strike this summer.

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The airline has stopped sales due to the Heathrow cap[/caption]