Heathrow and London Luton airports break passenger records for November
Both Heathrow and London Luton airports recorded their highest ever number of November passengers last month, as more travellers flew to and from the capital.
The number of passengers travelling through Heathrow in November exceeded 6m for the first time this year, figures released by the airport today reveal.
According to the London hub, the number of passengers travelling to and from North America grew by 5.8 per cent to 1.3m as airlines introduced more competitive pricing.
Africa saw the biggest percentage increase, however, rising by 10.2 per cent to 298,000 passengers as Heathrow introduced new routes to Marrakech, the Seychelles and Durban.
The number of travellers on UK domestic flights, meanwhile, fell by 7.5 per cent to 381,000.
London Luton airport also reported record numbers of passengers for November, as people travelling through the airport last month exceeded 1m for the first time, almost 12 per cent up on the same month in 2017.
The LLA said it is now preparing for its “busiest ever Christmas period”.
Recent figures from OAG, the flight intelligence service, revealed that the airport will be the fifth busiest in the UK over the festive period.
Heathrow ranked highest, with more than 5,500 flights departing and arriving between 21 and 25 December.
Last week, Heathrow announced its plans for “carbon neutral growth”, outlining how it will offset carbon emissions from the increase in flights once its controversial third runway is built.
John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow's chief executive, said: “Record numbers of passengers are choosing to use Heathrow because we offer outstanding service and better value for our passengers. But growth must be sustainable, and our blueprint for carbon neutral growth is an important step towards our ultimate goal of zero carbon aviation.”
While the number of passengers travelling through Heathrow continues to rise, airports in America, Asia and Dubai have expanded at a faster rate.
As recently as 2014 the London airport was the third busiest in the world for international traffic, but it has since fallen to seventh place.