London Heathrow airport has its busiest ever December as transatlantic travel booms
Heathrow reported its busiest ever December this year, driven by booming demand for transatlantic travel and a bumper Christmas.
Some 6.6m passengers passed through the west-London hub last month. Of those, 1.6m involved trips across the pond, helping New York’s JFK airport clinch the top spot as the most popular destination for the year.
The record month was also boosted by nearly 800 flights departing on Christmas day and carrying 142,000 passengers.
December brought Heathrow’s total annual passenger numbers to 79m over 2023, a year which saw Europe’s busiest hub finally break pre-pandemic traffic levels and edge closer to turning a profit.
British Airways’ operated Terminal Five, which opened in 2008, surpassed 33m passengers for only the second time in its history, serving 2.6m passengers over the month.
Heathrow’s new Danish chief Thomas Woldbye, said: “As we move into the new year, I want to extend my sincere thanks to all our Team Heathrow colleagues and partners for their hard and successful work over the busy festive period, which went really well in terms of service and operations.”
“By ending 2023 on a high, a strong foundation is laid for 2024 during which Heathrow will continue to grow and to facilitate the UK’s potential for global growth.”
Today’s figures cap off a year of change at the hub. A busy second half saw the London airport replace long-time chief executive John-Holland Kaye, surpass pre-pandemic passenger numbers and close in on ending a long run of lossmaking in its most recent financial results.
In December, Heathrow forecast record passenger numbers in 2024, with around 81.4m passengers predicted to travel through its terminals.
Transatlantic travel has been an critical driver of the success. Western Europe to the USA was one of the first long-haul markets to bounce back from Covid-19 and travellers have been coming to Europe in droves to make the most of a strong dollar.
Growth in passenger numbers from the Asia-Pacific region, now that borders have reopened after Covid, has also been a major factor in the increase. Heathrow said 892,000 passengers flew there in December, a near quarter increase on the prior year.