Take note if you’re flying from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow this week…

Etihad Airways’ has confirmed its first flight to be affected by the disruption at Heathrow Airport will be today’s departure to London. Passengers on flight EY26 from Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow on Thursday July 14 will take off more than three hours ahead of schedule, with the departure time changed from 8.45pm to 5.20pm, according to an official statement.

“As a result of capacity limits imposed by Heathrow Airport, Etihad Airways has been forced to reschedule flight EY26 from London to Abu Dhabi on Thursday 14 July,” an Etihad spokesman said, according to The National.

“The flight will now depart earlier than planned at 5.20pm instead of 8.45pm to avoid the peak congestion period at Terminal 4.”

Etihad said they regretted any inconvenienced caused, but that the last-minute change was necessary to avoid cancelling the flight. Passengers are being contacted by the airline with regards to the new departure time, and to assist those with onward connections.

More disruption to come

Staff shortages have caused disruption to UK summer travel plans, with flight cancellations causing travel chaos across the country. Heathrow, as one of the world’s busiest airports, has been particularly badly affected – and it’s likely to continue.

To try and combat the travel disruption, Heathrow announced this week that a travel cap would be in place from July 12 until September 11, limiting the number of departing passengers to 100,000 per day. So, if your summer travel plans included London Heathrow, take note: according to a letter from Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye, “some summer journeys will either be moved to another day, another airport or be cancelled.” The Heathrow CEO added that in line with the cap “we are asking our airline partners to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers.”

In the letter he apologised to those whose travel plans will be affected.