‘Chaos’ at Heathrow as 30 flights are cancelled by airport for capacity reasons

Travellers were hit with fresh chaos at Heathrow Airport on Thursday morning after the airport ordered flights to be cancelled because it could not handle them.

Thirty flights were scrapped during the morning peak affecting thousands of travellers because passenger numbers exceeded the airport’s maximum capacity.

Some did not discover their flights had been cancelled in the rare “schedule intervention" until they had arrived at the airport.

A Heathrow spokesman said the airport “asked airlines to remove 30 flights from the morning peak” as it was expecting more passengers “than the airport currently has capacity to serve".

“We will work with airlines to get affected passengers rebooked onto other flights outside of the peak so that as many as possible can get away, and we apologise for the impact this has on travel plans,” said the spokesperson.

“We are working hard to ensure everyone has a smooth journey through Heathrow this summer, and the most important thing is to make sure that all service providers at the airport have enough resources to meet demand."

Among the flights affected are some British Airways flights. Travel writer and broadcaster Andy Mossack wrote on Twitter: “Total chaos at Heathrow this morning. British Airways flights cancelled and zero customer service!"

British Airways said in a statement: “As a result of Heathrow's requirement for all airlines to reduce their schedules, we've made a small number of cancellations.

“We're in contact with affected customers to apologise, advise them of their consumer rights and offer them alternative options, including a refund or rebooking."

Another passenger affected by the flight cancellations, Andrew Douglas, said he had "spent the last four hours in multiple queues at Heathrow Airport”.

He added: “Absolute shambles, complete chaos and only found out at check-in with no prior notification. Horrific service."

There are fears that the travel chaos could worsen across the summer as Brits flock to go on holiday.

Around 700 British Airways staff at Heathrow have voted to strike during the school holidays which could affect many hoping to get away for the school holidays.

It comes after severe disruption at UK airports in the run-up to Easter and the Jubilee bank holiday.