British Airways' suspension of ticket sales on short-haul flights from Heathrow could continue until "early September", a travel expert has warned.
Paul Charles, chief executive of the PC Agency, told the Telegraph that the decision by BA will also impact how the public perceive their ability to fly at short notice.
"I think we'll see this continue until early September," he said. "When you combine the 30,000 flights cancelled by BA already this year with the freeze on new short-haul sales, then it will have a significant impact on the previous perception that you could travel easily at short notice."
"That is no longer the case and will affect business trips and even those needing to fly at short notice, for example to see an ill relative."
Last night, British Airways announced a one-week suspension on the sale of short-haul and domestic flights from the country's busiest airport.
All ticket sales on BA’s domestic and European routes and via Morocco and Cairo have been suspended up to and including August 8.
'Heathrow doesn't have enough staff to run a full operation'
BA said the decision was made after Heathrow asked carriers to limit new bookings after the airport introduced a limit of 100,000 departing passengers on July 12.
Heathrow has blamed a staffing crisis for the unprecedented cap that will run until at least September 11.
Mr Charles laid the blame for the suspension squarely at the feet of Heathrow: "Heathrow are determined to restrict capacity so that they can run a smoother operation."
"We're in this situation because Heathrow doesn't have enough staff to run a full operation."
"It doesn't have enough bus drivers or tug operators to smoothly operate at peak times, so it is restricting airline capacity."
"What is illogical is to see planes departing with empty seats when there is certainly enough demand to fly."
Owing to the suspension of ticket sales, Mr Charles estimates 10-15 per cent of seats on flights will be empty over the next week.
