Heathrow tops list of 15,000 ‘ghost flights' from UK since pandemic struck

More than 4,900 empty or near-empty planes took off from the London airport between March 2020 and September 2021

More than 4,900 ghost flights took off from Heathrow Airport during the first 18 months of the pandemic. Reuters

About 15,000 “ghost flights” left British airports during the first 18 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, figures have shown.

Heathrow topped the list with 4,910 ghost flights, defined as those without passengers or fewer than 10 per cent of passenger capacity, between March 2020 and September 2021.

Manchester Airport came second for ghost flights while Gatwick was third on the list.

The practice has been heavily criticised by environmental campaigners who say the carbon emitted during flights cannot be justified if the journey is unnecessary.

Ghost flights took off from all 32 airports listed on the newly released data. The figures include flights which were operated mainly to transport cargo or repatriate Britons stranded overseas.

In response to a parliamentary question, figures released by Robert Courts, the UK's Aviation Minister, showed an average of 760 empty planes left the UK each month during the period.

About 15,000 ghost flights left the UK between March 2020 and September 2021. AP

The actual numbers may be slightly higher because the data covered only international departures and not domestic flights.

Heathrow endured its worst financial year in 2021 and served its lowest number of passengers in about 50 years.

Aviation rules stipulate that airlines can lose valuable slots if they are not using at least 80 per cent of them.

However, the rules were suspended after the coronavirus crisis hit in spring 2020. But despite the relaxation, airlines flew 14,472 empty planes out of the UK.

“Flights may operate with a low number of passengers for a range of reasons,” Mr Courts said.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, the government has provided alleviation from the normal slot regulations. This means that airlines have not been required to operate empty or almost empty flights solely to retain their historic slots rights.”

Mr Courts released the data after Labour MP Alex Sobel, chairman of the net zero all-parliamentary group, raised the issue.

“To really tackle the climate emergency, we need to ensure that our aviation sector is as efficient as it can be with its carbon output,” Mr Sobel said.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said flights with low passenger numbers were often used to transport cargo.

“If you were flying PPE [personal protective equipment] from China or UK exports into the US while those markets were closed [to leisure travel], you would fly them on a passenger plane and you might only have a couple of passengers on board,” he told the PA news agency.

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

“Given how tight finances are, nobody is flying a plane unless it is economically viable. This is actually about keeping the UK supply chain going while borders are closed for passengers.”

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic insisted they have not operated “ghost flights” to retain slots during the pandemic.

A Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said its low-occupancy flights “supported the global movement of people, including returning foreign citizens and repatriated UK citizens, as well as keeping global supply chains running by moving vital cargo, including medical supplies and PPE”.