Heathrow and Gatwick airport traffic reaches record high in July
Both Heathrow and Gatwick airports broke a new record last month as more than 11m passengers passed through their terminals.
Heathrow, the UK’s biggest airport, said passenger numbers totalled 6.97m in July, up 0.5 per cent on the same month last year. The west-London airport had its busiest ever day on 27 July, when 239,928 passed through its doors.
This growth was propelled by flights to emerging markets, with the number of passengers flying to Mexico up 15.4 per cent and by 10.4 per cent to China.
Meanwhile, Gatwick said 4.1m used the airport in July, up six per cent on last year.
In contrast to Heathrow’s growth into emerging markets, Gatwick’s increases came from more established routes.
European traffic, particularly on business routes, was up 10.5 per cent while flights to America also increased dramatically after low cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle introduced new services to New York and Los Angeles.
The record figures from both airports heat up the debate yesterday over how to expand the UK’s air capacity.
Gatwick chief executive Nick Dunn argued yesterday that building a third runway at Heathrow “will diminish the choice available to British passengers” and increase costs.
Heathrow boss John Holland Kaye hit back saying: “Gatwick can’t, Heathrow can”.
He claimed this was because Heathrow was the only airport that could “deliver daily, direct flights to emerging economies that will help Britian win in the global race for growth”.
The Airports commission is charged with deciding which option is best, and is due to report shortly after the next General Election.