Flights to Spain and Portugal will be hardest hit by mass cancellations at Gatwick

Gatwick has capped daily flights to 825 in July and 850 in August and canceled around 4,000 flights to some of the most popular summer holiday destinations

Flights to popular holiday destinations Spain and Portugal will be hit hardest by mass cancellations at Gatwick Airport, according to travel experts.

Gatwick bosses have urged airlines to cut flight schedules in hopes it will ease the pressure on airport services as ongoing staff shortages and rising traveler demand continue to wreak havoc on passengers and staff.

Gatwick is now capping daily flights to 825 in July and 850 in August, which will result in the cancellation of around 4,000 flights on some of the most popular summer holidays Destinations reported The sun.

Gatwick said it made the decision after a “significant and rapid increase in air traffic” in recent weeks, combined with a “serious shortage of human resources” affecting businesses operating at the airport.

If the decision were not made, the airport said, passengers would continue to experience “unreliable and potentially poor standards of service, including more queues, delays and last-minute cancellations.”

Travel experts believe the hardest-hit destinations will be Spain and Portugal, and possibly southern France.

Popular airline EasyJet said it was reviewing “the details” of the cap but insisted it expects to be able to re-accommodate “the majority” of passengers should their flight be affected.

An airline spokesman said: “We are aware of the capacity cap announced by Gatwick Airport and are now looking at the details to assess what this means for easyJet’s operations at Gatwick.

“We recognize the need for Gatwick Airport to do this as airports across Europe are visible across all airlines and are well positioned to decide what capacity is realistic in the current challenging operating environment for all airlines to be reliable to their customers can offer services.”

Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate said the airport’s decision was aimed at “helping ground handlers – and our airlines too – better align their flight programs with their available resources”.

He added: “As before, the vast majority of summer flights will operate as usual and the measures taken today mean that our passengers can expect a more reliable and better standard of service while improving conditions for staff working at the airport.

“I am extremely grateful to all of our staff for their tireless work over the past few months to get the airport back up and running and for helping get passengers on their journey.”

Heathrow has also been hit hard by staff shortages, with shocking images of huge stacks of abandoned luggage surfacing in one of the terminals. Passengers have complained about takeoff delays, mass lines and last-minute cancellations.