Record demand drives Heathrow growth - results for year ended 31 Dec 2024

Customer demand to fly from Heathrow continues to grow – 2024 was a record year for Heathrow, with colleagues welcoming a record 83.9 million passengers. Heathrow’s status as the best connected airport in the world and good customer service contributed to the 6% annual passenger growth. We also saw a 10% increase in cargo boosting British exports to markets around the world. More flying and larger aircraft will help drive growth in 2025 although constrained capacity will likely see a smaller uptick in annual performance.

Delivering value for customers remains our key priority – Teamwork across the airport has driven improvements in service with stable security wait times, more on-time departures and better baggage performance. We were delighted to be recognised by both Condé Nast and Travel Weekly as the UK’s best airport, and for our retail and VIP services to be recognised as “Best in Class”. We are redoubling our efforts to deliver more improvements this year.

Revenue down 4% on lower airport charge – Despite record passenger numbers, Heathrow’s total revenue declined to £3.6 billion with adjusted EBITDA also down to £2.0 billion as a result of a lower airport charge set by the CAA. We continue to focus on reducing costs and delivering more efficiencies to improve our EBITDA margin. Our financial resilience remains robust including a strong liquidity position at £3.4 billion. For the first time in five years and as a result of strong 2024 business performance, Heathrow's Board has decided to pay a dividend of £250 million to its ultimate shareholders in the coming weeks.

New targets in a refreshed sustainability strategy – Connecting People and Planet is our refreshed sustainability strategy which includes new targets after we achieved progress on our previous goals. We launched our first Nature Positive Plan with a commitment to tackling the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. Record amounts of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (‘SAF’) were used at Heathrow during 2024 and we continued to lead on SAF use in the UK, with our 3% incentive in 2025 being 1% above the UK mandate. We became the first airport in the world to commit to adopt the recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (‘TNFD’), committing to disclose our environmental impacts and dependencies annually from 2025.

Expanding the UK’s gateway to growth – The UK Government is clear that Heathrow is the UK’s gateway to growth. Over the next decade, we will be embarking on the largest private investment in the UK’s transport network as we look to modernise our existing facilities and unlock new capacity. A series of projects on the path to a third runway will enhance our terminal infrastructure, improve customer experience and punctuality, expand local and sustainable transport options and boost the environmental credentials of our facilities. We will be submitting proposals for a third runway to the Government this summer. Policy changes are needed to deliver the project successfully and we will also be working with Ministers to agree these changes, particularly around airspace modernisation, planning reform and adjustments to the regulatory model for a third runway. Our aim is to meet the Government’s ambition to have planning permission for a third runway before the end of this Parliament.

Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said:

“2024 underscores why Heathrow is the UK’s gateway to growth. Our colleagues welcomed a record number of passengers with good service, cargo volumes increased 10% boosting British trade and we invested over £1bn to improve facilities and boost resilience which creates more value for customers at Britain’s front door.

“Securing future economic growth means investing in the infrastructure that powers it. Over the next decade, we will be making the largest private investment in the UK’s transport network which will modernise Heathrow and unlock new capacity for growth. This will grow the economy, make Heathrow better for all of our customers and give the UK a competitive world-class hub fit for the future. This is an exciting time for our customers, our colleagues and the country and we’re looking forward to working with the Government to deliver it."