Heathrow posts record 2012 passenger traffic
Heathrow Airport saw a record number of passengers travel through the airport last year, as December traffic figures reached a new high for the month.
Almost 70m passengers passed through Heathrow last year, the highest ever for a calendar year at the hub airport. Over the year as a whole, it marked a jump of 0.9 per cent from 2011.
The increased traffic last year was led by higher passenger numbers to North America, which increased 3.2 per cent.
During December, 5.6m passengers passed through Heathrow, its highest ever for the month. Traffic to East Asia was up 14.8 per cent, boosted by route changes. Traffic to Europe rose four per cent, although passenger numbers for Spain and Greece fell 9.4 per cent and 4.2 per cent from December 2011.
Heathrow, formerly known as BAA, said its load factor – which shows how full a flight is – hit a record 75.6 per cent last year.