Heathrow welcomes millions to the UK to join the royal celebrations picture

Heathrow welcomes millions to the UK to join the royal celebrations

11 May, 2023

Heathrow welcomes millions to the UK to join the royal celebrations

  • 6.4 million passengers travelled through Heathrow in April.  There are early indications that passenger growth may be levelling off, with recovery now stable at 93-95% of 2019 levels across each of the first four months of this year.  
     
  • We have continued to deliver excellent passenger getaways over Easter and the Coronation, with well over 90% of passengers passing though security in under 10 minutes. Heathrow had a Royal garden party theme for the Coronation, with brass bands playing patriotic tunes, guardsmen in the terminals and free Coronation shortbread. The ceremony was shown in full on the big screens in Terminal 5, with passengers pausing to witness the historic moment.
     
  • The introduction of Loganair flights to the City of Derry and Dundee to Sumburgh and Kirkwall, supported by our discount on landing charges for domestic routes, increases our UK destinations served by 50%. Continued recovery of the East Asia market is expected with departures to 7 Chinese cities recommencing by the end of May.
  • We welcome Sustainable Aviation’s roadmap, reaffirming that aviation can grow whilst meeting the UK’s legally binding commitments to net zero carbon by 2050. We echo calls for Government to set out a policy framework to secure Sustainable Aviation Fuel scale up and commercial production in the UK

Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye said: “It is only 12 months since all international travel restrictions in the UK were lifted, and we have made tremendous progress. I am proud that colleagues across Heathrow have shown Britain at its best for visitors arriving for the Coronation.”

 

Traffic Summary

      

April 2023

     
       

Terminal Passengers
(000s)

Apr 2023

% Change

Jan to Apr 2023

% Change

May 2022 to
Apr 2023

% Change

Market

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK

326

11.2

           1,340

39.2

           3,733

49.1

EU

                2,211

15.2

           7,553

54.2

         23,956

107.7

Non-EU Europe

420

3.6

           1,675

30.4

           4,838

83.2

Africa

292

19.3

           1,210

40.2

           3,226

94.5

North America

           1,679

40.1

           5,434

73.2

         17,696

184.0

Latin America

166

17.6

700

34.9

           1,905

110.5

Middle East

599

12.0

           2,479

31.5

           7,539

93.6

Asia / Pacific

705

105.1

           2,914

144.6

           7,271

185.4

       

Total

           6,399

25.9

         23,305

58.1

         70,164

119.8

       
       

Air Transport Movements

Apr 2023

% Change

Jan to Apr 2023

% Change

May 2022 to
Apr 2023

% Change

Market

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK

           2,378

3.8

10,371

26.0

         29,269

29.8

EU

         16,387

6.0

         60,010

39.1

       182,962

71.0

Non-EU Europe

           3,153

0.7

         13,165

28.5

         36,739

63.6

Africa

           1,276

6.5

           5,364

19.5

         14,441

43.3

North America

           7,772

32.1

         27,511

50.2

         83,387

88.2

Latin America

   735

17.6

           3,001

20.9

           8,103

55.2

Middle East

           2,410

20.0

           9,564

28.9

         27,707

38.8

Asia / Pacific

           3,138

65.8

         12,396

49.3

         33,004

36.0

       

Total

         37,249

14.6

       141,382

37.8

       415,612

62.4

       
       

Cargo (Metric tonnes)

Apr 2023

% Change

Jan to April 2023

% Change

May 2022 to
Apr 2023

% Change

Market

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK

21

-13.8

 193

16.5

435

-34.2

EU

           7,549

-11.0

         30,535

-22.1

         97,948

-21.6

Non-EU Europe

           2,594

-23.2

         12,399

-13.5

         40,022

-36.5

Africa

           6,745

-4.7

         24,957

-18.6

         75,002

-5.8

North America

         41,494

-17.4

       175,733

-7.8

       541,664

0.2

Latin America

           4,189

25.3

         15,615

25.9

         46,766

47.8

Middle East

         20,002

1.5

         78,085

7.5

       243,952

4.5

Asia / Pacific

         25,241

3.9

         98,115

-16.0

       312,969

-22.7

       

Total

       107,837

-7.5

       435,631

-8.6

    1,358,758

-8.1