British Airways has refused to deny media speculation that its current stop-sale on short-haul flights out of Heathrow will continue past 8 August.

The carrier originally planned to halt sales just for the weekend, then extended the ban until next Monday citing the need to free up capacity for passengers affected by airport delays who needed to rebook.

The stop on sales was prompted by the airport’s decision to limit passenger numbers until 11 September to 100,000 a day.

A British Airways statement said: “As a result of Heathrow’s request to limit new bookings, we’ve decided to take responsible action and limit the available fares on some Heathrow services to help maximise rebooking options for existing customers, given the restrictions imposed on us and the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry.”

BA sells much of its summer inventory well in advance, meaning it has little room to manage the flexibility needed if cancellations caused by staff shortages or baggage handling issues occur. That has prompted fears that the stop-sale could continue well into this month, perhaps as far as the August bank holiday weekend. BA would not confirm to Travel Gossip how long the action could continue for.