Heathrow regains crown as Europe’s busiest airport

Heathrow regained its crown as Europe’s busiest airport this summer as passengers departed after travel restrictions ended due to the pandemic.

Between July and September, it was used by more travelers than rivals in cities such as Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

This was a huge improvement from a year ago, when Heathrow blamed the UK’s relatively strict coronavirus travel rules on being only Europe’s tenth busiest airport, having been number one in 2019.

But despite regaining its crown, it warned of uncertain prospects amid concerns over the global economy, a new wave of Covid infections and the war in Ukraine.

Nearly 5.8 million passengers passed through last month, more than double last year when travel restrictions were still in place.

After the service level dropped, it was forced to impose a limit of 100,000 departing passengers per day while also asking airlines to stop selling summer tickets, leading to feuds with some airlines.

Heathrow expects the Christmas period to be ‘very busy’ and will focus in the coming year on reducing capacity to pre-pandemic levels.

It has already hired more staff, while airlines have hired more ground staff to cope with the increase in passenger numbers.

“Heathrow has grown more than any other airport in Europe in the last 12 months and we have provided the vast majority of travelers with a great passenger experience,” said CEO John Holland-Kaye.

Airlines are bracing for a challenging few months as rising fuel prices hurt profit margins and cost of living pressures hit demand.

Johan Lundgren, boss of Easyjet, said this month that several airlines are facing a “very difficult situation” this fall and several could fail.