Airport numbers continue to soar
PRE-COVID LEVELS ALMOST REACHED
PASSENGER numbers at Heathrow were just two per cent below pre-pandemic levels last month, new figures show, with some 6.1 million passengers travelling through the West London airport’s terminals in November.
This is compared with 6.2 million during the same month in 2019 with November seeing demand for flights to North America peaking before Thanksgiving.
There were more than 50,000 passengers flying across the Atlantic from Heathrow on November 17, the last Friday before the holiday.
This coincided with the first transatlantic flight by an airliner powered by pure sustainable aviation fuel (Saf ) as well as an uptick in flights to India for those celebrating Diwali.
Virgin Atlantic operated the groundbreaking Saf flight from Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: “For so many, holidays and cultural festivities are all about spending quality time with friends and family.
“Last month saw passengers travelling to celebrate Thanksgiving and Diwali with their loved ones, and we are making final preparations for the Christmas getaway.
“We need to protect these benefits of aviation in a world without carbon, which the history-making 100 per cent Saf transatlantic flight proved is possible.
“Now we need collaboration between industry and Government - who both have critical deliveries - to scale-up Saf production to make 100 per cent Saf flights an everyday reality. ”
Heathrow Airport expects about 6.5 million passengers to travel through the airport this month, a 10 per cent increase on the figure of 5.9 million in December 2022 and behind only 2019 (6.7 million) for Heathrow’s most ever passengers in the final month of a year.