Heathrow plans expansion after record-breaking Christmas and ends busiest year ever
Heathrow is looking at expansion plans after a record-breaking Christmas ended its busiest year on record.
Bosses at the airport – which saw passenger numbers reach a record high of 83.9 million in 2024 – are in talks with the government over a third runway to boost capacity.
CEO Thomas Woldbye plans to improve existing infrastructure – including a £2.3 billion upgrade announced last month – while rallying support for a new runway.
Passenger numbers in 2024 were 3 million higher than the previous peak in 2019 before Covid 19 struck.
Record year: Heathrow bosses are in talks with the government over a third runway to boost capacity. Chief exec Thomas Woldbye plans to improve the existing infrastructure
Heathrow, Europe’s busiest international airport, expects to welcome 84.2 million passengers this year.
Bookings for 2025 are off to a strong start, with demand driven by those planning holidays to chase away the January blues.
More than seven million passengers traveled through Heathrow last month, making it the busiest December ever at the airport.
And on Christmas Day, 160,000 customers used the airport – a 13 percent increase from the peak a year earlier.
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