UK. London Heathrow Airport set a historic high for passenger traffic in August, passing the 8 million mark for the first time. The UK hub is the first European airport to exceed this figure in a single month.
Passenger traffic in the month climbed +0.8% year-on-year, with volumes on EU routes up +1.8%, Middle East +2.7%, Africa +4.9% and Asia Pacific +0.9%.
The airport experienced its busiest day ever on 1 August, serving over 270,000 passengers. Terminal 5 set a new single-day record on 22 August with more than 112,000 travellers.
The airport company noted that service levels remained high even with unprecedented passenger numbers, with Heathrow as Europe’s most punctual major hub for flights and 96% of passengers waiting under five minutes for security.
A statement said: “This step-change in performance combined with our effective airline partnerships is resulting in clear, tangible benefits for passengers. On-the-day cancellations across this summer have decreased by over a third compared with the same time last year and passengers travelling without their bags has reduced by -42% year-on-year.”
Earlier this summer Heathrow submitted its proposal for a third runway that could be operational within a decade.
Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said: “August is set to go down in the history books. Heathrow became the first European airport to handle over 8 million passengers in a single month and we achieved that whilst maintaining industry-leading punctuality and service levels.
“This is an outstanding achievement, made possible by the collective efforts of our colleagues, airline partners and the wider airport community who worked as one to deliver excellent service for our passengers and the UK.” ✈
