British Airways cancels routes to Miami, Tokyo and Hong Kong over the summer
British Airways is seeking to reassure customers they won’t face disruption, after flights to Miami, Hong Kong and Tokyo were cancelled until September.
The company pulled routes due to staff shortages and rising demand after Covid restrictions were lifted.
It told Morning Wire the Hong Kong route was cancelled due to ongoing Covid entry restrictions, and that Quantas and Virgin Atlantic had also delayed the return to the city.
The airline added that Miami flights will be operated in part by its partner, American Airlines, and the same number of flights, three departures from Heathrow a day, will continue.
This comes after BA cancelled more than 100 flights to Europe this week, which is set to impact on more than 10,000 passengers.
On Tuesday just under 100 flights were also scrapped, after key airlines including BA and easyJet suffered shortages in staff.
According to the Telegraph, passengers can have a new ticket for their axed light, but are only entitled to a cash refund if it’s due to staff sickness of if the cancellation was less than two weeks in advance.
In a statement to Morning Wire, BA said “while the vast majority of our flights continue to operate as planned, as a precaution we’ve slightly reduced our schedule as we ramp back up.
“We’ve apologised to customers who are affected by this and to limit the inconvenience have re-booked them onto earlier or later flights on the same day they were originally due to travel where possible. We’re also offering them the opportunity to book onto an alternative flight or request a full refund.”
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, warned there are “still complications over recruiting enough staff”, in the Telegraph.
“BA is only recruiting staff who already have security passes. The airline’s planners obviously believe there is a maximum number of people they feel they will recruit, therefore it has to cut back on frequency now based on its expected level of recruitment.