Heathrow reports significant reduction in losses as summer passenger numbers surge

Following what the London airport has called a 'super' summer, the new chief executive says 'best days still lie ahead'

Heathrow said it had had a "super" summer with 29 million passengers passing through the airport over the summer period. PA

A rise in passenger numbers over the summer has enabled Heathrow airport to substantially reduce its losses in the first nine months of the year.

The London airport said 59.4 million passengers had passed through its terminals from January to the end of September, compared to 44.2 million in the same period in 2022.

Those numbers helped Heathrow reduce its adjusted loss before tax from £442 million in the first nine months of 2022 to £19 million in the same period this year.

Heathrow's new CEO Thomas Woldbye said the airport's "best days still lie ahead", as results showed a significant narrowing of losses. Heathrow/PA Wire

'Challenging settlement'

In its latest results, Heathrow referenced the long-running battle over passenger charges, which was finally settled last week when the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ruled that the level set by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was balanced.

As such, Heathrow's charges for this year will be capped at a maximum of £31.57 ($37.4) per passenger, but will drop by 20 per cent from next year until the end of 2026.

Heathrow said that even though the CAA had "set a challenging settlement", it will still invest in upgrades of the security programme and the new Terminal 2 baggage system. Over the next three years, Heathrow also plans to invest over £200 million to reduce its carbon emissions.

“Heathrow is already a great national asset for Britain - and our best days still lie ahead," said Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow's chief executive.

"We've got a clear plan to connect all of Britain to global growth, a flight path to net zero by 2050, and while we have a tight settlement from the CAA, we will upgrade the airport for our customers.

"I'm excited to take on the challenge and looking forward to working with Team Heathrow to build an even stronger hub for Britain in the next decade.“

With connections to over 214 destinations, Heathrow is considered the most connected airport in the world, and will add flights to to Peru and Turkmenistan in the coming months.

Heathrow's results followed news from British Airways last week that it is to launch daily flights to Abu Dhabi from April next year, following a four-year hiatus.

The new flight from Heathrow, which will be operated using a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, will boost connectivity to the UAE as it joins BA flights to Dubai, which operate up to three-times daily.

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