HEATHROW Airport was forced to cancel more flights today, affecting thousands of travelers who slammed into “total chaos” this morning.
London Airport told 30 airlines they had to cancel flights during the morning peak.
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This is expected to affect up to 5,000 passengers, who will be informed about the cancellations at short notice.
While Heathrow has not confirmed which airlines will be hardest hit, British Airways said a “handful” of its flights were affected.
Virgin Atlantic also said two of its flights were affected, while among the airlines with canceled routes were Delta, Lufthansa, KLM, American Airlines, Aer Lingus and Air France.
Angry Brits took to social media to complain, calling it “carnage” and “total chaos” – one man wrote: “Absolute shambles, complete chaos and only found out upon check-in with no prior notification.”
Another wrote: “Total chaos at Heathrow this morning. BA flights canceled and zero customer service!
A third said: “Over two hours since landing and still not out of @HeathrowAirport, shambles.”
A spokesman for the airport told Sun Online Travel: “We expect higher passenger numbers in today’s morning peak than the airport can currently handle and to ensure everyone’s safety we have asked airlines to cancel 30 flights from the morning peak until tomorrow .
“We will be working with airlines to re-book affected passengers on other off-peak flights to allow as many as possible to get away tomorrow and we apologize for the impact this is having on travel plans.
“We are working hard to ensure everyone has a smooth journey through Heathrow this summer and the most important thing is to ensure that all service providers at the airport have sufficient resources to meet demand.”
The last-minute cancellation means Brits can claim compensation if caught in the chaos of EU-261 rules.
The cancellations come just days after Heathrow fell into chaos with suitcases left in the terminals.
Shocking images showed the disorganized passengers trying to find their way, with thousands of suitcases abandoned on both arrival and departure.
Other airports have also had to reduce their schedules, with Gatwick canceling 4,000 flights in advance this summer.
‘BLODBATH’
Airlines have also had to cancel thousands of flights in recent months due to staff shortages.
BA confirmed 16,000 flights would be canceled between March and October to prevent last-minute cancellations.
Both easyJet and TUI have had to cancel hundreds of flights this month, with easyJet warning they could cancel another 10,000 this summer.
Lufthansa, which initially said it would cut 900 flights this summer, said it would cut another 2,200.
And more chaos is expected this summer due to strikes – some 16,000 BA workers are threatening to join 700 Heathrow airport check-in workers in a planned strike.
The workers, who are all based at Heathrow and are members of the GMB and Unite unions, could shut down their tools as early as July 8.
Meanwhile, employees at low-cost airline Ryanair will be fighting across Europe over pay and working conditions.
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