Aberdeen Airport routes at risk as thousands of British Airways flights to be cancelled
The flag carrier airline announced its intention to cut 10,300 short-haul flights centred around routes to London Heathrow, Gatwick and City airports.
Thomas DurhamTrainee Reporter
17:51, 8 JUL 2022
Updated 20:39, 8 JUL 2022
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Thousands of short-haul flights are set to be cut, with Aberdeen Airport likely to be affected following an announcement from British Airways this week.
The flag carrier airline announced its intention to cut 10,300 short-haul flights from its schedule between August and the end of October.
The cancellations centre around flights to London Heathrow, Gatwick and City airports. Flights with multiple departures on one day and domestic routes are the most likely to be axed.
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Aberdeen International Airport currently runs several British Airways flights to Heathrow every day.
In total, 13 per cent of BA flights have been cancelled this summer as the airline as it struggles with staff shortages.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: "The whole aviation industry continues to face into significant challenges and we're completely focussed on building resilience into our operation to give customers the certainty they deserve.
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"The Government recently decided to give the whole industry slot alleviation to minimise potential disruption this summer. While taking further action is not where we wanted to be, it's the right thing to do for our customers and our colleagues.
They added: "While most of our flights are unaffected and the majority of customers will get away as planned, we don't underestimate the impact this will have and we're doing everything we can to get their travel plans back on track.
"We're in touch to apologise and offer rebooking options for new flights with us or another airline as soon as possible or issue a full refund."
The British Airways announcement came just ahead of the amnesty deadline set out by the UK Department for Transport (DfT). It gives airlines a short window to hand back airport slots in the summer season they won't be able to operate - without any penalties.
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Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said the latest cancellations were a "damning indictment" of BA's failure to manage its summer flight schedule.
"BA has continued to promote and sell flights it could not fulfil, even as thousands of customers have faced the chaos of cancellations in recent weeks," he said.
Irish ultra low-cost airline Ryanair told the BBC that it was against the amnesty.
A statement read: "We do not support this latest slot waiver regulation from the UK Government, which has been handed out for the benefit of airlines who failed to adequately prepare for the return of air travel post-Covid."
"These slot waivers will lead to fewer flights and reduced connectivity, which will ultimately harm competition and lead to higher fares for hard-pressed UK consumers."
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