Heathrow pays first dividend in five years despite closure drama

Airport completed £250 million transaction 'as a result of our strong operational and financial performance in 2024'

Passenger aircraft operated by British Airways on the tarmac at London Heathrow Airport. Getty Images

Heathrow has announced it is to pay a dividend to shareholders for the first time in five years after an increase in long-haul travel helped to boost revenue.

The world’s second busiest airport saw 18.2 million passengers travelling through it between January and March, down 1.6 per cent from 18.5 million during the same period last year.

This is being blamed partly on a 10-hour closure on March 21 as a result of a power cut caused by a fire at a nearby electricity substation. The dip is also being attributed to the timing of Ramadan and Easter this year, as well as a leap year in 2024.

Revenue increased by 2.1 per cent to £825 million in the first quarter of this year, which was driven by more long-haul flying, and improved property and retail income, said Heathrow in its quarterly financial announcement.

The airport said that “as a result of our strong operational and financial performance” it made £250 million in dividend payments in March.

Demand across the year as a whole is to "exceed 2024" when 83.9 million passengers travelled through its five terminals. A multibillion-pound expansion for the airport was unveiled earlier this year, as it prepares to submit proposals in the summer for a third runway.

Chief finance officer Sally Ding said: “2025 will be a pivotal year for Heathrow as we finalise our business plan for the next five years and submit our proposals to Government to unlock new capacity at the UK’s gateway to growth.

“Our focus on steadily improving operational performance is yielding results, and our future plans will enable us to deliver better value and more growth for our customers and the country.”

Passengers now see 81 per cent of their flights leave on time, which the airport says is close to a record high, and 99 per cent of their bags went with them, Heathrow revealed. At security, 97 per cent of travellers waited less than five minutes.

In December 2024, French company Ardian completed a deal to become Heathrow's largest shareholder, with a 23 per cent stake, while Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund purchased a 15 per cent share.

This was a result of Spanish company Ferrovial selling the majority of its 25 per cent stake, and sales by other shareholders. Heathrow's other owners include the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and China, and large infrastructure funds.

Chief executive Thomas Woldbye recently said refitting the airport to have seamless "full power" energy resilience to avoid a repeat of last month's emergency shutdown would cost more than £1 billion.