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Highlights
- Heathrow Airport has instructed airlines to terminate the sale of tickets for summer flights.
- From 12 July to 11 September, the upper limit for daily departing passengers stands at 100,000.
- Several airlines have lately been cancelling flights due to staff shortages amid rising travel demand.
Enforcing a limit on passenger numbers, Heathrow Airport has instructed airlines to terminate the sale of tickets for summer flights. The west London airport has declared that from 12 July to 11 September, the upper limit for daily departing passengers stands at 100,000. Besides, the Heathrow airport further added that the airlines were intending to run flights with an average daily capacity of 104,000 seats.
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This figure was way higher prior to the beginning of flight cancellations over the summer holiday months. The cancellations primarily began as airlines were facing staff shortages with the escalating post-pandemic demand for travel. A major example of the same was the recent cancellation of over 10,000 fresh flights by British Airways, scrapping off nearly 30,000 flights from the airline’s summer schedule. Apart from Heathrow, these cancellations will impact Gatwick and City airports.
The cap on passenger numbers is bound to cause more flight cancellations, but travellers won’t be eligible for reimbursement from airlines due to the reason being categorised as outside their control. Certain airlines may even opt for running flights with empty seats. With the cutback in available seating, the already surging air fares may keep on escalating further.
Over the past few months, travellers have faced several issues like long queues, and have been left stranded at airports without getting their compensation or alternative flight tickets in case of abrupt cancellations.
As the aviation sector continues to struggle with the overall chaos, UK investors can keep an eye on the following aviation stocks.
British Airways (LON: IAG)
Investors need to buy the shares of International Consolidated Airlines to invest in British Airways as it has 100% stakes in it. Uniting the leading carriers in the UK, Ireland, and Spain, FTSE 100 constituent IAG holds a market cap of £5,468.76m as of 13 July. With the aviation sector being hit by covid restrictions and other global factors, the performance of the airline has deteriorated over the past year. With an EPS of -0.59, both its annual and YTD returns fall in the negative category as of 13 July, at -37.73% and -22.50%, respectively. On 13 July, IAG’s shares were witnessing a drop of 3.37% at around 9:30 AM (GMT+1) and were trading at GBX 106.70.
Easyjet plc (LON: EZJ)
Easyjet on 13 July boasts of a market cap of £2,800.09m as of 13 July. Like other airlines, Both EZJ’s YTD and annual returns fall in the negative category as of 13 July, at -33.56% and -58.95%, respectively. Its EPS also lies in the negative category at -1.59. On Wednesday, EZJ’s shares dopped by 1.98% at around 9:30 AM (GMT+1) and were trading at GBX 362.60.
Wizz Air Holdings plc (LON: WIZZ)
Wizz Air Holdings plc is a Swiss-based carrier which offers low-budget travelling and air transportation services. The FTSE 250 constituent holds a market cap of £1,930.04m as of 13 July. Both its YTD and annual returns fall in the negative category as of 13 July, at -56.78% and -60.88%, respectively. Its EPS also lies in the negative category at -6.73. On 13 July, WIZZ’s shares were experiencing a fall of 3.07% at around 9:30 AM (GMT+1) and were trading at GBX 1,815.00.
