Heathrow is preparing for its busiest weekend this Christmas with over 780,000 passengers expected to pass through its doors between Thursday and Sunday this week.
With millions of Brits planning on making an early start to the festive holiday period, the UK’s only hub airport is forecasting that Thursday (15 December) will be its busiest day with over 203,300 people including families, couples and friends heading back home or jetting abroad, lured by sun, snow and city breaks.
To ensure a smooth Christmas getaway, additional customer service employees will be posted in check-in, while dedicated family lanes and pre-flight play areas have also been re-introduced to cater for the many families expected to fly this holiday season.
3.35 million passengers in total will pass through Heathrow during the Christmas school holidays (16 December to 3 January) bringing with them over 6,000 tonnes of luggage each day – the equivalent to the weight of 20 jumbo jets(1).
According to forecast figures, the 23 December will see the most arrivals into Heathrow with 35,000 passengers scheduled to fly into Terminal 5 alone.
Top 5 Destinations this Christmas
- New York
- Dubai
- Dublin
- Amsterdam
- Paris
Normand Boivin, Chief Operating Officer at Heathrow said: “The flight before Christmas is for many the most important flight of the year. At Heathrow we’ve pulled out all the stops to ensure our passengers have a smooth journey and very merry Christmas.”
For more information please contact the Heathrow consumer press office at Mischief on 0203 128 6571 or baa@mischiefpr.com
Notes to Editors
(1) Based on the average passenger carrying 20kg of checked in luggage and 10kg of hand luggage, equalling 6,100,710kg or 6,100.710 tonnes and a jumbo jet weighing 300 tonnes when empty. 6,032,940 tonnes divided by 300 tonnes equals 20.1066667
