Heathrow will not return to “normal” (ie. 2019 levels) of passengers for several years (if ever)
Due to restrictions to try to avoid Omicron spreading, or more being introduced into the UK (it initially probably arrived due to air travel, from Africa) many people who had booked flights over Christmas cancelled. Heathrow said about 600,000 passengers due to use the airport had cancelled. This continued a bad year for the airport. It had only about 19.4 million passengers in 2021 compared to around 80 million in 2019 – ie. 24% of the 2019 number. It had a bit over 22 million in 2020 (so 2021 was 12.3% below 2020). CEO John Holland-Kaye did not expect a return to the level of passengers in 2019 for many years, perhaps by 2026. Even that is very uncertain.
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Heathrow Airport warns return to normal travel years away
12.1.2022 (BBC)
At least 600,000 passengers scrapped plans to fly from Heathrow Airport last month as the Omicron coronavirus strain sparked tougher travel restrictions.
Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye said it underlined the crisis in the industry and the uncertainty facing travellers. A return to normal “could be years away”, the chief executive of the UK’s busiest airport warned.
Just 19.4 million passengers passed through Heathrow in 2021 – 12.3% below 2020, the year the pandemic began.
Last year’s number, the lowest for Heathrow for 50 years, was 24% of the pre-pandemic levels (over 80 million) seen in 2019. Mr Holland-Kaye said it was time for all coronavirus testing measures to be dropped for fully-vaccinated people.
Fears over the Omicron Covid variant meant that, from late November, all travellers arriving in the UK were required to take a pre-departure lateral flow test and self-isolate until they received a negative result from a post-arrival PCR test.
This led to many people scrapping their travel plans over the festive period.
The new rules were relaxed for fully-vaccinated arrivals last week after travel firms said they were ineffective due to Omicron spreading widely within the UK. That move sparked a rush of bookings, airlines reported.
Mr Holland-Kaye said: “There are currently travel restrictions, such as testing, on all Heathrow routes – the aviation industry will only fully recover when these are all lifted and there is no risk that they will be re-imposed at short notice, a situation which is likely to be years away.”
He warned this creates “enormous uncertainty” for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the aviation regulator, as it prepares to set a five-year cap on Heathrow’s passenger charges.
“The regulator must focus on an outcome that improves service, incentivises growth and maintains affordable private financing.”
The CAA increased the cap on Heathrow’s price per passenger from £19.60 to £30.19 from 1 January, sparking complaints from airlines that the rise was far too high.
The CAA is expected to announce a long-term cap running from the summer to 2027 in the coming weeks.
Heathrow said travel to and from the Asia-Pacific region in 2021 was particularly badly hit, down 40.3% from a year earlier.
The other markets with double-digit reductions were non-EU Europe (down 13.8%) and North America (down 13.6%).
Domestic travel bucked the trend, with a 21.1% boost in passengers compared with 2020.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59950633
COVID-19: Heathrow demands all testing is dropped after 600,000 passengers cancelled Christmas flights
The UK’s largest airport says it carried 12% fewer passengers in 2021 than in the previous year and says the damage it has sustained bolsters its case for regulators to accept its proposals for higher passenger charges.
By James Sillars (Business reporter) @SkyNewsBiz
11 January 2022
Heathrow Airport has called for all coronavirus testing to be dropped for fully-vaccinated people while revealing that “at least” 600,000 passengers cancelled flights during the key holiday month of December.
The UK’s largest airport said “swiftly imposed” action during the month to tackle the Omicron variant in the run-up to the festive season prompted uncertainty among travellers who faced additional bills for costly PCR tests.
It added that there was now significant doubt on when demand would return despite the subsequent lifting of UK rules last week governing pre-departure coronavirus testing for people arriving in the country.
People also no longer have to isolate until they get a negative PCR test, but will instead have to take a lateral flow test at the end of day two after arriving.
Heathrow urged governments to go further to help the wider travel sector gain traction.
Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “There are currently travel restrictions, such as testing, on all Heathrow routes – the aviation industry will only fully recover when these are all lifted and there is no risk that they will be reimposed at short notice, a situation which is likely to be years away.”
He told Sky News: “This is not just because of the restrictions here in the UK but around the world. It shows that we’re on the long haul to recovery in aviation until we see restrictions taken away at both ends of the route, we’re not going to travel as normal and that’s probably not going to happen until 2025.”
Heathrow said it carried fewer passengers in 2021 than in 2020 when the crisis first took hold – with lockdowns globally forcing it to cut jobs and report a £2bn annual loss.
It said that 19.4 million passengers used the airport in 2021 – less than one quarter of the total for the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
The airport is currently hoping for a boost to its revenue through a new five-year agreement with the aviation regulator on the charges it imposes on each passenger via airline ticket prices.
Airlines have reacted with fury to the Civil Aviation Authority’s proposal that could see Heathrow raise its per passenger’ charge by more than 50%.
Mr Holland-Kaye said of the settlement talks: “The regulator must focus on an outcome that improves service, incentivises growth and maintains affordable private financing.”
The airport is due to reveal its 2021 annual results next month.
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