IRELAND: Air travel disruption will continue into next month

editor August 07, 2022 0

IRELAND: Air travel disruption is set to continue into next month, with passengers advised that cancellations and schedule changes will impact flights through autumn and winter.

Irish passengers have been contacted in recent weeks about flight cancellations for next month, while some airlines have had to adjust schedules to cope with new restrictions in the sector.

Due to the widespread disruption, those who work in the sector say they do not see schedules returning to their pre-pandemic levels until at least winter.

The struggle of airlines and airports to operate at full capacity again after the pandemic is a major cause of the inconvenience. Workforce numbers are still below typical levels due to staff shortages.

Airport delays, airline cancellations, and difficulties with check-in and luggage handling have also been attributed to Covid-19 outbreaks, new staff recruitment and training, and a significant increase in demand for travel since pandemic restrictions were relaxed.

KLM, a Dutch airline, notified Irish passengers in recent weeks of impending flight cancellations, rebooking them on alternate routes, and giving them time to change their arrangements if necessary.

Inbound and outgoing flights from Dublin to Amsterdam and Cork to Amsterdam are among the services that are impacted.

Before last Tuesday's announcement that the daily passenger limit at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport will be increased through September and October, certain Irish travellers who would be impacted by the changes were contacted.

In order to manage the restrictions, a small number of flights were cancelled as a result, and minor timing changes were imposed on other Dublin and Cork services.

Limits at Schiphol were first implemented last month due to worries that it wouldn't be able to handle the volume of travellers during busiest times.

When connecting for long-distance flights, travellers use one of Europe's major airports, which is typically one of the busiest in the continent.

Although there are no such limitations in force at Irish airports, the changes in Amsterdam have an impact on services here.

KLM stated that it is still unsure of how the upcoming months will affect its services to and from Ireland.

The disturbances at Schiphol Airport have resulted in some cancellations and a reduction in the number of tickets available, but KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is doing everything in its power to ensure smooth operations, a spokesman said.

"At this time, September's and October's exact effects are not entirely known. But KLM will endeavour to keep things running smoothly all through the year so that passengers can connect via Schiphol from Dublin and Cork to the rest of the world.

Similar restrictions on the number of passengers were put in place at London Heathrow last month and will be in effect until September 11.

Airports like London Heathrow "continue to demand some cancellations," according to Aer Lingus, who stated that they want to run a full schedule.

An Aer Lingus representative said, "Where such cancellations are required, we endeavour to advise and re-accommodate impacted customers as efficiently as possible.

Because Aer Lingus has so many flights to and from London Heathrow, most passengers are typically accommodated on the same day.

British Airways this week temporarily stopped ticket sales for short-haul operations there until tomorrow due to Heathrow capacity limitations.

The airline claimed it reduced its summer schedule as "pre-emptive step" to "provide consumers certainty about their travel arrangements."

"We removed a few extra flights from our itinerary when Heathrow implemented its passenger cap. We've been acting responsibly to stay under the cap by limiting sales on all of the available tickets on some of our Heathrow trips so that there are more seats available for consumers to rebook, according to a British Airways representative.

We'll keep managing bookings to stay under the Heathrow-imposed limit so we can send our customers on their intended summer vacations.

After travel dwindled to a trickle in 2020, many operators and airports found it difficult to ramp up to full capacity.

According to figures in the sector, many providers won't reach 2019 levels until this winter or the following year.

Ryanair, which does not operate flights out of Heathrow, reported that it is still running at capacity.

A spokesman for Ryanair claimed, "Ryanair is fully crewed and operating a full schedule of 3,000 daily flights (almost 100,000 per month)".

“Ryanair has had no cancellations to/from Dublin or Cork this summer due to staff shortages, unlike many other airlines who have failed to plan adequately for the return of travel post Covid.”