London Heathrow reports busiest day since Covid with 6.2m jetting off for Easter despite strikes
London’s Heathrow Airport reported over 6.2m passengers travelled through Britain’s biggest airport in March, a rise of more than a million since February.
The West London hub also recorded its busiest day since 2019, with 221,606 flying through on 31 March, despite it being the first day of Unite’s industrial action.
The five-week walk-out by passport officials also failed to stem Brits’ desire to get some sun.
In the period between January and March, Heathrow handled a total of nearly 17m passengers, with the most popular destinations being Europe and North America.
The surge comes amidst the airline industries continuing bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, the aircraft leasing company Avolon predicted that the industry would be back to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2023.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: “I am very proud of the way that colleagues have pulled together to ensure passengers got away smoothly on their Easter holidays. Our security team has done a brilliant job, supported by our entire management team who have been ‘here to help’ in the terminals.”
“Many passengers have told me that we exceeded their expectations,” he added.
Heathrow’s Terminal 5 also marked its 15-year anniversary in the same month. It has hosted almost 400 million passengers during that period.
Despite the surge in numbers, Heathrow had a 9.1 per cent drop in cargo travelling through the airport in March.