London Heathrow Achieves Record-Breaking Numbers Serving Nearly 82 Million Passengers

As passengers across the globe increasingly take to the skies, major airports are also registering record footfalls that are smashing previous records. London Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, is also witnessing a travel rush like never before, and has served more than 81 million passengers in the last 12 months.

Record-breaking numbers

London Heathrow Airport (LHR) saw a record-breaking 81.5 million passengers in the 12 months to May. This is up from 71.6 million travelers during the previous year. The airport also saw growth in double digits for passengers traveling between Heathrow and within the UK, the EU, North America, and Asia-Pacific. Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye commented,

“We have a winning team at Heathrow which has proven that we have put Covid firmly behind us. Thanks to their extraordinary efforts we are now giving record numbers of people the chance to connect smoothly with the world. Supporting 81m journeys doesn’t just help families to make wonderful holiday memories, importantly it is about the vital trade and business links a hub like Heathrow creates for the UK’s economy.”

Photo: Ceri Breeze | Shutterstock

Record for May broken

While the larger picture of the last 12 months is quite encouraging, Heathrow also broke the record for passenger traffic for the month of May. It celebrated the milestone when it welcomed 7.2 million passengers last month, marking the first time that May traffic ever exceeded 7 million.

The table below will give an idea of the kind of traffic Heathrow saw in the last 12 months and also for May alone (passenger numbers are in the multiple of 1,000):

Photo: Tupungato | Shutterstock

Heathrow also recently opened the UK’s first branch of Jones the Grocer in Terminal 2, serving up freshly-made meals and artisanal produce, and also celebrated 10 years of operations of The Queen’s Terminal this summer. It opened in 2014 and has served 148 million passengers traveling to more than 30 different countries on over a million flights.

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Getting busier by the month

Heathrow is expecting a busy summer and could see more records broken with an estimated 30m passengers. Last month, it was revealed that the airport is heading for its busiest year ever, upping its 2024 passenger forecast to 82.4 million.

In April, the airport handled 6.7 million passengers, a 4.8% increase compared to April 2023. Woldbye said that as Heathrow continues to grow, the focus is on making it fit for the future, delivering reliable journeys for all its customers today and getting ready for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.

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