Olympics and Taylor Swift give Heathrow a summer boost

Music and sports fans were the crowning glory of a record summer of passenger numbers for Europe's busiest airport

The Paris Olympics and Taylor Swift's UK concerts fuelled passenger numbers at Heathrow Airport. Getty Images

London's Heathrow Airport handled a record number of passengers over the summer, thanks to travellers passing through the hub on their way to the Paris Olympics and music fans following several iconic performers as they toured the UK.

In the case of Taylor Swift's UK concerts, many US-based fans flocked to London because some tickets were almost 80 per cent cheaper, it was reported.

From June to September, 30.7 million passengers passed through Heathrow, bringing the total for the first nine months to 63.1 million, a rise of 6.1 per cent compared to the same period last year. Passenger numbers from the Middle East rose by 7 per cent to 6.3 million from January to September this year. This was despite Heathrow announcing in August that, since the introduction of the British government's £10-a-person electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system last year, the airport has lost 90,000 transfer passengers on routes operating to and from UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Meanwhile, Heathrow recorded the busiest departures and arrivals days in its history on July 24 and September 2, respectively. As a result, it has increased its full-year passenger number forecast to 83.8 million.

“This summer has tested our colleagues, infrastructure and airlines to co-operate harder than ever before, with record numbers of passengers travelling through the busiest two-runway airport in the world,” Heathrow's chief executive Thomas Woldbye said. “We have risen to this challenge, delivering excellent service with over 91 per cent of passengers waiting at security for less than five minutes.”

Heathrow's adjusted profit before tax for the first nine months was £350 million, despite a 3.2 per cent dip in revenue. Meanwhile, the airport said it expects to invest more than £1 billion this year alone. Currently, Heathrow is not forecasting a dividend for this year, although it said it is “probable subject to financial performance”.

Heathrow through the years – in pictures

Heathrow Airport in London, the UK's busiest, has been a travel hub for decades. Here The National takes a look back at Heathrow through the years. All photos: Getty Images

An Airco De Havilland biplane of the British airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, about to leave on the company’s inaugural flight from Hounslow Heath Aerodrome, later known as Heathrow, to Le Bourget, Paris, in August 1919

Waterlogged runways at London Airport - Heathrow's original name - one week before it became Britain's main aerial gateway to the US in 1946

The new BOAC maintenance headquarters at London Airport circa 1955

The air traffic control room at the airport's new terminal in 1955

US film star Marilyn Monroe with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, after arriving at the airport in July 1956

An aerial view showing the runways in 1958

The arrivals and departures board in 1960

A new airport gift shop, selling items by Chanel, Wedgwood and Pringle of Scotland, in 1961

The Queen's Building and the No. 1 Building Europa at Heathrow in 1965

The Beatles leave Heathrow for Salzburg in Austria, to resume filming of the movie Help!, in 1965

Passenger terminal gates at Heathrow in 1966

Keith Granville, managing director of BOAC, holding up a model of the Boeing 747 jet, with the new aircraft hangars under construction in the background, at Heathrow in 1969

An aerial view of Heathrow in 1970

Passengers boarding the first BOAC Jumbo Jet 747 used for a commercial flight, from London Heathrow to New York, in 1971

Passengers going through the departure lounge at Heathrow in 1973

Concorde takes off from Heathrow on her first commercial flight for British Airways in 1976

Men at work finalising the Heathrow Central underground station before its opening in 1977

Queen Elizabeth II passing though the Tube gates at Heathrow Central station on its opening in 1977

An aerial view of Heathrow in 1978

Passengers waiting near a departures board in 1979

Holidaymakers waiting in the departure lounge at Terminal 3 of Heathrow in 1981

British Airways employees protesting at Heathrow in 1984

Passengers and staff observe a silence in Heathrow's Terminal One to mark the beginning of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997

Rower Steve Redgrave at Heathrow with daughters Sophie and Natalie and son Zak after returning from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games with his gold medal

Spectators watch the last Concorde land at Heathrow in 2003

Fans surround the coach carrying the England rugby team at Heathrow, as they arrived from Sydney after winning the World Cup in 2003

Heathrow's Terminal 2 in 2004

Passengers queue to check in at Terminal 1 of Heathrow Airport during the Christmas 2006 and New Year period

Passengers wait at Terminal 1 on August 10, 2006, after airport security was raised to critical when a terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US was disrupted by police

Planes queueing to take off at Heathrow in 2007

The new Terminal 5 at Heathrow in 2008

Aircraft at Heathrow Airport in front of the London skyline in 2016

Members of Team GB arrive from Rio de Janeiro at Heathrow, after returning from the 2016 Olympics, which saw Great Britain's strongest performance at the Games in over a century

A composite photo shows planes taking off from Heathrow in November 2016. Forty-two planes were captured between 10.17am and 11.17am and a montage was created from those single images

Items are arranged during an auction preview at Heathrow in 2018. The contents of Terminal 1, which closed in 2015, were being sold

An airline passenger wearing a face mask pushes her bags through Heathrow's Terminal 5 during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020

British Airways employees welcome Olympians returning from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

Travellers wait in a long queue to pass through the security check in 2022

Heathrow's latest profit and passenger numbers were released a week before the UK Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, unveils her autumn budget, which Mr Woldbye described as “a prime opportunity to set the aviation industry up for long-term success”.

Calling for the government to support continuing efforts to introduce more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into the sector, he added that “backing British SAF through a revenue certainty mechanism and committing to joined-up policymaking that makes sense for aviation will supercharge Heathrow’s potential to deliver growth and investment for the whole of the country”.