Heathrow climbs back up global league table with US passenger boost
Heathrow Airport has reported a busy October of passenger traffic ahead of the festive months, despite concerns of a wider slowdown in travel demand.
The west-London hub shipped 6.9m passengers last month, up 18 per cent and taking the yearly passenger total to 66.3m. It means Heathrow is the fourth largest airport globally.
A total of 2.2m passengers passed through terminals during the October half-term, with the most popular destinations being New York, Los Angeles and Dubai.
Transatlantic demand was a key driver of the overall uptick, with 1.8m flights to North American routes representing a 17.7 per cent year-on-year increase.
Some 168,000 passengers opted for Latin America, after Heathrow announced the UK’s only direct connecton to Peru over summer.
Woldbye said: “I’ve learned a lot about Heathrow in my first few weeks, but one thing that really stands out to me is the passion and drive of colleagues to get people away smoothly on their journeys.”
“We look forward to welcoming passengers from across the world over the upcoming festive season with a friendly face to lend a helping hand.”
The airport said it would be offering a range of retail perks in the coming weeks as the festive season sets in, with offerings for brands including Watches for Switzerland and inMotion.
11 new routes have opened at the hub this year and Europe’s busiest hub now serves 239 destinations across 89 countries.
Heathrow finally broke past pre-pandemic levels of passenger traffic for the first time last month, marking a major milestone in its ongoing recovery.