British Airways has announced it is going to cut 10,300 short-haul flights until the end of October, with long-haul travel unaffected.

The move, which will see flights cut from the start of August, takes the percentage of cancellations across the airline to a total of 13% this summer.

BA has been one of the worst affected carriers in terms of schedule disruption in recent months as the aviation industry battles increased demand and staff shortages.

In a statement the airline said it was ‘not where we wanted to be’ but believed the cuts were ‘the right thing to do for our customers and colleagues’.

The company said: ‘The whole aviation industry continues to face into significant challenges and we’re completely focussed on building resilience into our operation to give customers the certainty they deserve.

‘The Government recently decided to give the whole industry slot alleviation to minimise potential disruption this summer.

‘While taking further action is not where we wanted to be, it’s the right thing to do for our customers and our colleagues.’

BA said the ‘new flexibilty’ offered by slot alleviation meant it could ‘further reduce’ its schedule and ‘consolidate some of [its] quieter services.’

It added the move would allow it to ‘protect as many of our holiday flights as possible’.

‘While most of our flights are unaffected and the majority of customers will get away as planned, we don’t underestimate the impact this will have and we’re doing everything we can to get their travel plans back on track,’ the statement continued.

‘We’re in touch to apologise and offer rebooking options for new flights with us or another airline as soon as possible or issue a full refund.’

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