British Airways has cancelled more than 100 flights to and from its main base, London Heathrow airport on Thursday. The Independent calculates 20 domestic flights, including departures to all three airports it serves in Scotland and both its northern England airports, have been grounded.
A total of 84 short-haul international flights are cancelled.
BA says the flight cancellations are all pre-planned and that passengers were given notice of a week or two – with some departures taken out of the schedules many weeks ahead.
While airlines will not disclose passenger loads on the grounds of commercial sensitivity, if an average of 80 people were booked on each flight at the point of cancellation then more than 8,000 travellers will have been affected by today’s cancellations.
British Airways departures from Heathrow
Domestic: 10 outbound, 20 sectors in total
- Aberdeen (2)
- Edinburgh (3)
- Glasgow (3)
- Manchester
- Newcastle
Europe/North Africa: 42 outbound, 84 sectors in total
- Amsterdam (3)
- Athens (2)
- Barcelona (2)
- Berlin (2)
- Brussels
- Copenhagen
- Dublin
- Dusseldorf
- Frankfurt (2)
- Geneva (2)
- Hamburg
- Hanover
- Larnaca
- Lisbon
- Luxembourg
- Lyon
- Madrid
- Marrakech
- Malaga
- Marseille
- Milan Linate
- Milan Malpensa
- Munich (2)
- Nice (2)
- Oslo
- Palma
- Prague (2)
- Stockholm
- Vienna
- Zagreb
- Zurich (2)
Besides the cancellations British Airways, the UK’s biggest budget airline, easyJet, is cancelling around 70 flights per day – particularly to and from its largest base, Gatwick. The airline says most passengers are able “to switch onto alternative flights on the same day”.
All passengers whose flights are cancelled are entitled to new flights on the original day of departure if a seat is available, even if it is on a rival airline.
If the cancellation was announced less than two weeks in advance and the airline is responsible, they are also due cash compensation.
