According to the airport, “limiting the number of departing passengers has led to an improvement in the quality of passenger service”, including — to reduce last-minute flight cancellations and increase the reliability of passengers receiving their luggage.
On July 12, 2022, a passenger flow limit was introduced at Heathrow, providing for a maximum of 100,000 departing passengers per day until September 11, 2022. This comes after weeks of disruption to travel, during which people stood in long lines at airports, missing their flights.
As a result, Heathrow has been criticized by airlines around the world for having to cut flights to the UK's busiest airport during the high summer months.
Emirates Airlines has rejected London Airport's demands for flight cuts due to summer travel restrictions.
In response to airline complaints that low salaries make it difficult to hire ground staff, Heathrow Airport said employees who handle luggage at airports, “do not work for the airport itself and are independent businesses under contract with airlines“.
Heathrow Chief Executive Nigel Milton stressed in a statement dated July 21, 2022 year that “Ground handlers have been trying for months to recruit and train qualified personnel” but have been unable to do so because their airline customers are unwilling to pay market rates.
Note that in July 2022 Six million passengers used the airport's services. During the three summer months of 2022, Heathrow plans to serve a total of 16 million passengers.