British Airways suspends short-haul ticket sales from Heathrow over industry challenges

British Airways (BA) has suspended the sale of short-haul flight tickets departing from Heathrow airport as industry challenges persist globally.

Short-haul flights are trips lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours.

In a statement on Tuesday, BA said the move was in response to Heathrow’s request for airlines to limit new bookings and will last till August 8.

“We’ve decided to take responsible action and limit the available fares on some Heathrow services to help maximise re-booking options for existing customers, given the restrictions imposed on us and the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry,” the statement reads.

It added that the suspension of ticket sales would affect flights to domestic and European destinations.

On July 12, 2022, Heathrow said it would restrict daily departing passengers to 100,000 as the industry continues to face several challenges.

Europe’s biggest airport (by passenger numbers) said its decision to restrict travellers numbers was taken “in the best interests of passengers” to provide “better, more reliable journeys this summer.”

The airport said it was happy that British Airways, its biggest airline, followed the request.

“We are pleased to see action from British Airways, acting responsibly and also putting passengers first,” it said.

The global aviation industry is facing numerous challenges as it strives to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Nigeria, the sector is facing rising costs of aviation fuel, insecurity and infrastructural challenges, which have limited flight operations and exponentially increased airlines’ cost of operations.

In a meeting on Wednesday, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, explained that the aviation fuel crisis was a global problem, adding that Nigeria plans to address it by revamping its refineries.

“It is aggravating in Nigeria because we don’t produce the product,” he had said.

“It’s aggravated also because the foreign exchange is scarce in Nigeria because the source of earning the foreign exchange also has dwindled.”

On Sunday, Emirates Airlines announced that it would reduce flight operations to Nigeria over its inability to repatriate about $85 million in revenue.