Heathrow passengers still well below 2019 level, with demand uncertainties this autumn
Heathrow says it had 5.8 million passengers in September, which was 15% below its level in 2019. Its passenger numbers went up in the summer, though below 2019 levels, and because of a lack of staff, it limited the number of passengers to 100,000 per day during July September and October – that ends on 29th October, after half-term for most schools. The airport hopes, as ever, for a bumper Christmas season with loads of passengers, despite the various UK economic problems. Demand may not be as much as it hopes if there is a winter resurgence of Covid, a worsening situation in Ukraine, more economic gloom in the UK, and continuing high energy prices, giving many people less disposable income. Heathrow said it would spend the next year working on bringing its capacity and service back to pre-pandemic levels. It has claimed it is back as the busiest large airport in Europe, after being knocked off its perch for that by Schiphol. But Schiphol now will have some flight number limitations, from 2023, when the annual number is to be cut from 500,000 to 400,000 flights to limit noise, carbon emissions and air pollution.
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Heathrow press release
Heathrow busiest European hub over summer, but outlook for demand remains uncertain
https://mediacentre.heathrow.com/pressrelease/detail/14224
- Close to 5.8 million passengers travelled through Heathrow in September, 15% below 2019 levels. The airport recorded the busiest summer out of any European hub airport.
- Passenger service levels, which had been higher than any European hub between January and June, dipped at the beginning of July as passenger demand started to exceed overall capacity of the aviation ecosystem, but improved significantly after we introduced a departing passenger cap, which successfully kept supply and demand in balance. As a result, the vast majority of passengers travelling through Heathrow this summer had a very good experience.
- Demand outlook remains uncertain, with growing economic headwinds, a new wave of Covid and the escalating situation in Ukraine. However we expect peak days at Christmas to be very busy. Resource levels across the airport, airlines and their ground handlers have been increasing and we can now remove the cap at the end of the month. We are working with our airline partners to develop a more targeted mechanism, which protects passenger service during peak periods.
- Our focus over the next 12 months is to get capacity, service levels and resilience back to the high levels that they were before the pandemic. This relies on having a regulatory settlement that provides enough cash flow to invest in our operations and capital projects, and to maintain an investment grade credit rating.
- We welcome the ICAO Assembly’s landmark commitment to target net zero carbon emissions for international aviation by 2050. We have been working hard to build support for this and to ensure that the government policies are in place to support the rapid increase in production and use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
…. and there is more ….
Heathrow regains status as Europe’s busiest hub airport
Airport bosses expect Christmas to be ‘very busy’
By Neil Lancefield, Michael Broomhead (Hull Live)
11 OCT 2022
Heathrow has revealed it regained its status as Europe’s busiest hub airport over the summer. Some 5.8 million passengers travelled through Heathrow in September.
A year ago, Heathrow warned it had gone from being Europe’s busiest airport in 2019 to number 10 on the list, behind rivals in cities such as Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt. It blamed its fall in the rankings on the UK’s coronavirus travel rules.
Restrictions were lifted in March, and Heathrow said it recorded more passengers than other European hub airports between July and September. But demand last month was still 15% below pre-virus levels in September 2019.
The airport insisted the outlook for future demand “remains uncertain”. This is due to “growing economic headwinds, a new wave of Covid and the escalating situation in Ukraine”.
It added: “However, we expect peak days at Christmas to be very busy.” Heathrow said the “vast majority” of passengers travelling through the airport this summer “had a very good experience” as a cap on the number of departing travellers “successfully kept supply and demand in balance”.
This followed long queues and problems with baggage handling in early July, which was blamed on staff shortages. The cap will be lifted on October 29.
Heathrow declared that its “focus” over the next 12 months is to get capacity, service levels and resilience back to pre-pandemic levels. Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “Heathrow has grown more in the past 12 months than any airport in Europe and we’ve delivered a great passenger experience to the vast majority of travellers.
“I’m proud of the way our team has worked with airlines and their ground handlers to get 18 million passengers successfully away over summer. While we face many economic headwinds, as well as the legacy of Covid, our aim is to get back to full capacity and the world-class service people should expect from the UK’s hub airport as soon as possible.”
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/heathrow-regains-status-europes-busiest-7688255
Heathrow Airport warns on demand outlook for travel
October 11, 2022 (Reuters)
Britain’s biggest airport Heathrow warned that the demand outlook for the coming winter was uncertain given the growing economic headwinds plus the impact of a new wave of COVID-19 and the escalating situation in Ukraine.
Heathrow, situated west of London, said while it expected peak Christmas days to be very busy, the overall outlook was uncertain. Britons face a squeeze on their leisure spending due to rising inflation and higher household bills.
During September, Heathrow said 5.8 million passengers passed through the airport, 15% below levels seen in 2019, showing that travel was recovering from pandemic lows but was held back by a cap on departures introduced by the airport to cope with labour shortages and congestion.
The airport is due to remove the 100,000 daily cap at the end of October.
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See earlier, about restrictions at Schiphol (Netherlands):
Schiphol airport in Amsterdam limits flights to prevent emissions, in world first
The Dutch government has announced that the number of flights arriving at Schiphol airport will be capped to bring down carbon emissions. Schiphol, the third largest airport in Europe after Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle, will be limited to 440,000 flights a year from 2023. That is an 11% reduction from the airport’s pre-pandemic numbers in 2019 – and most importantly, it is a first in terms of putting climate before economic growth. The Dutch government, a majority stakeholder in Schiphol, says the change will bring down both noise and nitrogen oxide pollution (NOx). By limiting air traffic at one of Europe’s major airports the Dutch government is taking a major step to tackle air travel, which is one of the most polluting sectors. The aviation industry is not happy about it, and want instead to persist with the myth of being “net zero by 2050” (which is uncertain, too little, too late). A pro-aviation body ACI Europe “warned against governments caving in to ‘climate populism’.” The decision was welcomed by Greenpeace, which has been campaigning to reduce flights at Schiphol for years.
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Schiphol flights to be limited to 11% below 2019 levels to cut noise
After pressure from communities in the Netherlands, the Dutch Parliament has said Schiphol must reduce its flights from 500,000 a year to a maximum of 440,000 by 2023 in order to cut the noise experienced by impacted communities. That cut is 11% less than in 2019 (about 510,000). It is understand from the Dutch aviation campaigners that the mix in the current Dutch Parliament helped. The Netherlands has proportional representation and enough small parties backed the proposals to get it agreed. The decision follows a move by Schiphol itself, in which the Dutch state is the majority shareholder, to impose a cap on the number passengers it can carry this summer – although that was due to staffing shortages. Part of the reason is awareness fo the carbon emissions. Airlines, predictably, are not happy. Greenpeace, which had lobbied for traffic at Schiphol to be reduced, hailed the decision as a “historic breakthrough”. This might be the first time a major airport has been asked to reduce flight numbers.
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