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British no-frills airline EasyJet on Monday said it was reducing the number of its flights this summer, as the UK aviation sector struggles with severe staff shortages.
Airlines and airports are struggling to recruit staff after the lifting of pandemic lockdowns, which saw the aviation sector slash thousands of posts.
London's Heathrow airport requested that airlines reduced their schedules by 10% at two of its terminals Monday, days after the capital's Gatwick hub said it would handle less traffic than planned this summer.
EasyJet said it "is proactively consolidating a number of flights across affected airports", including Gatwick, which last week announced plans to scale back flights.
Heathrow on Monday apologised "unreservedly for the disruption passengers" had faced at the airport in recent days.
EasyJet said the airline was seeking to "build additional resilience" also amid delays to air traffic control and passport checks.
Despite the travel chaos, EasyJet stressed that its bookings remained "strong" for the peak-demand summer months of July and August.
Staff shortages across the aviation sector have sparked flight delays and cancellations in recent weeks.
"We are sorry that for some customers we have not been able to deliver the service they have come to expect from us," said EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren.
EasyJet said it expects the airline's capacity in the group's current third quarter to be 87% of the pre-pandemic 2019 level.
That is expected to increase to 90% in the three months to the end of September, EasyJet's final quarter.
Air passenger traffic on a global scale is expected to hit 83% of pre-pandemic levels this year and the aviation industry's return to profit is "within reach" in 2023, the International Air Transport Association said Monday.
Adding to air travel disruptions in Britain, the country's rail sector faces its biggest strike action in more than three decades this week, in a row over pay as soaring inflation erodes earnings.
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