The airport asked its airline partners to stop selling summer tickets so that the impact on passengers would be reduced. Credit: Heathrow Airport Limited.

London Heathrow Airport, UK, has imposed a two-month cap on daily passenger numbers to facilitate summer travel amid the recovery in air travel demand.

The airport will restrict passenger traffic numbers to 100,000 from 12 July to 11 September.

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Daily departing seats over the summer, without the cap, would average 104,000, which is a surplus of 4,000 a day.

At present, only around 1,500 of these 4,000 daily seats have been sold.

Due to this, the airport has called on its airline partners to stop selling summer tickets.

The move aims to ensure efficient travel for the broad majority of passengers during the summer.

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Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: “The global aviation industry is recovering from the pandemic, but the legacy of Covid continues to pose challenges for the entire sector as it rebuilds capacity. At Heathrow, we have seen 40 years of passenger growth in just four months.

“Despite this, we managed to get the vast majority of passengers away smoothly on their journeys through the Easter and half-term peaks.

“This was only possible because of close collaboration and planning with our airport partners, including airlines, airline ground handlers and Border Force.”

In a recent traffic update, Heathrow revealed that it had recorded 40 years of traffic growth in just four months and apologised for the resulting travel chaos.

The airport has been facing challenges in handling the summer rush due to staff shortfall. A technical malfunction in its baggage system and calls for strike action by its refuelling workers have compounded the problems.   

Last month, Heathrow reopened its Terminal 4 to offer more capacity and meet the increasing travel demand.