Heathrow loses spot as top European airport

London airport drops to third place due to coronavirus pandemic

Travellers arrive at London Heathrow Airport in London, UK. Bloomberg

London Heathrow lost its top spot among European airports last year as travel curbs tied to the coronavirus pandemic kept passengers away.

Heathrow’s 73 per cent drop left it trailing Istanbul’s new airport, which attracted 23.4 million travellers in its first full calendar year, and Paris Charles de Gaulle, which retained the No 2 spot.

All of Europe’s airport’s suffered, with 23 million passengers equating to a rank outside the top 30 in any normal year.

A push to replace country-specific entry curbs with pre-flight testing has unravelled with the rise of more-infectious strains of the virus.

Britain’s quarantine policy and a shifting list of exempted countries have also discouraged travel to London.

The government last week tightened further, halting flights from South America and extending isolation to all arrivals.

While most West European airports, from Frankfurt to Amsterdam to Barcelona, had traffic sink by 70 per cent or more last year, Istanbul’s two biggest and Moscow Sheremetyevo reported smaller declines, thus rising in the ranks.

Traffic at Moscow’s two smaller airports has not yet been reported.

New national clampdowns mean travel will remain difficult for some time.

Italy extended its state of emergency into April, while Austria’s lockdown will run into February, with Germany set to follow.

Starting Monday, travellers into France from outside the EU will have to be tested before boarding, agree to isolate for a week on arrival, and then take another test.