UK. London Heathrow Airport served 6.96 million passengers in October, a rise of +18% year-on-year. The airport company said the growth has helped propel it to become the fourth largest airport in the world by traveller numbers in the period.
The figures were buoyed by the October half-term period, when 2.2 million passengers passed through the terminals. Among the most popular destinations were Dubai, New York and Los Angeles.
After reopening its borders, Hong Kong became Heathrow’s 12th ‘millionaire route’ for the year, surpassing 1 million passengers and following Doha, New York JFK and Delhi among others. Heathrow now serves 239 destinations in 89 countries.
Heathrow has begun preparations for the upcoming holiday peaks and will be launching a range of retail offerings in the coming weeks, including opportunities to win Christmas vouchers at retailers such as Watches for Switzerland, inMotion, Rituals and World Duty Free (Avolta), alongside its Christmas advertising campaign.
Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said: “I’ve learned a lot about Heathrow in my first few weeks, but one thing that really stands out to me is the passion and drive of colleagues to get people away smoothly on their journeys. We look forward to welcoming passengers from across the world over the upcoming festive season with a friendly face to lend a helping hand. If your journey sees you travelling through Heathrow we’ve got you covered, from attractive shops to meet your gifting needs to restaurants for all the family, we will ensure a seamless start to your holiday plans.” ✈
