Heathrow has blamed airlines’ ground handling operations for causing a constraint on capacity, saying its own resources are "on track" after it claimed it began planning for the summer peak nine months ago.
Airport has rebounded fastest of Europe's five largest airports
The airport claimed the number of people employed in ground handling has "fallen sharply" over the last two years as airlines cut costs during the pandemic.
"We have been raising our concerns over lack of handler resource for nine months," a Heathrow spokesperson said. "We estimate airline ground handlers have no more than 70% of pre-pandemic resource, and there has been no increase in numbers since January.
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