Heathrow on target for busiest ever summer

London’s Heathrow Airport is set for its busiest ever summer after handling close to eight million passengers in July.

The total, which saw it hold on to its status as Europe’s busiest airport in 2024, included three weeks when it handled in excess of 1.8 million passengers despite never previously welcoming that many people in a week before.

Picture courtesy of Heathrow/David Dyson.

Heathrow also experienced an 8% increase in cargo tonnage in July 2024 compared to July 2023.

It says that this “strong performance” underscores Heathrow’s position as t”he UK’s leading air cargo hub, boosting the UK economy, helping drive exports, tourism and investment across the country.”

Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye, enthuses: “Team GB’s performance in Paris has been an inspiration to the nation and to Team Heathrow. In July, we were smashing a passenger record almost every single day and we’re chasing down our never before seen goal of serving 8 million passengers in a single month.

Passengers with luggage arriving at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 2.

“I’m proud that although there were a few potential challenges which could have caused us to stumble, our team remained focused on the prize of making every journey better and delivered a medal-winning start to the summer getaway.”

However, there was a downside as the latest data shows that the airport has lost 90,000 transfer passengers from seven countries who citizens now require Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to come to the UK.

It describes the downturn as “devastating” for the hub’s competitiveness, and is now urging the UK government to review the inclusion of airside transit passengers, stating that “every little bit of extra competitiveness that government can deliver for aviation will help deliver vital growth for the whole of the UK economy”.