British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) will cut about 10,000 short-haul flights to/from London Heathrow in the upcoming winter season between late October 2022 and March 2023, and hundreds more flights until the end of the 2022 summer season.

This follows the airport's decision to extend an existing capacity cap of 100,000 passengers a day until October 29. The restriction was due to have been lifted on September 11.

"Following Heathrow's decision to extend its passenger cap, we're making adjustments to our short-haul schedule for the next two months," a British Airways spokesperson confirmed.

"While the vast majority of our customers will travel as planned and we're protecting key holiday destinations over half-term, we will need to make some further cancellations up to the end of October. In addition, we're giving customers travelling with us this winter notice of some adjustments to our schedule, which will include consolidating some of our short-haul flights to destinations with multiple services. We'll be offering customers affected by any of these changes an alternative flight with British Airways or another airline or the option of a refund," she explained.

The BBC reported the airline would cut 629 flights from Heathrow until the end of October.

Heathrow, in a statement, said it was extending its cap after consultation with airlines but that restrictions could be lifted earlier pending improvements in staffing and operations. It said shortages amongst airline ground handlers remained a core constraint on capacity at the airport.

"Since the cap was introduced, passenger journeys have improved with fewer last-minute cancellations, better punctuality, and shorter wait times for bags," it said. "We want to remove the cap as soon as possible, but we can only do so when we are confident that everyone operating at the airport has the resources to deliver the service our passengers deserve."

Several other airports, including London Gatwick, Frankfurt International (Germany), and Amsterdam Schiphol (Netherlands), have also put equivalent capacity limits in place, with Schiphol extending its cap until the end of October.