As predicted by Travel Gossip, British Airways has extended its stop-sale on short-haul routes until at least 15 August.

The carrier had initially paused sales just for last weekend, then until 8 August. The move means new bookings cannot be made on a host of imminent short-haul departures. Some inbound legs are still available, although prices are generally high.

BA put the blame at the door of Heathrow, which had requested airlines help it impose a voluntary cap of 100,000 passengers a day in August due to staffing pressures.

A BA spokesperson said: “We took pre-emptive action to reduce our schedule this summer to give customers certainty about their travel plans and to build more resilience into our operation given the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry.

“When Heathrow introduced its passenger cap, we took a small number of additional flights from our schedule and to continue to comply with the cap, we’ve been taking responsible action by limiting sales or all the available fares on some of our Heathrow services to ensure more seats are available to rebook customers.

“We’ll continue to manage bookings to be within the Heathrow imposed cap so we can get our customers away as planned this summer.”

BA also admitted the action could continue beyond 15 August, and may impact some long-haul routes in the future.