Heathrow sees record passenger numbers in its 70th year
Heathrow celebrated 70 years of history in 2016, welcoming a record 76 million passengers (+1%) alongside 1.5 million tonnes of cargo (+3%) travelling through the airport. Again, it was larger, quieter and more efficient aircraft continued to be a driver for growth in passenger volumes at Heathrow.
In 2016, around 40% of Heathrow’s long haul passengers travelled on cleaner and quieter new generation aircraft, such as Airbus A380s (above), A350s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners – up from around 25% in 2015 and helping to reduce the airport’s impact on local communities
In a major boost for the economy, the Government announced its support for a new runway at Heathrow – the first full-length runway in the south east since the second world war. The Government will begin consulting on a national policy statement early this year
December passenger volumes set a new record for Heathrow, with 6.2 million passengers travelling through the airport (+4.4%) – emerging markets in the Middle East (+16.9%) and Asia (+3.2%) continued to be drivers for growth as well as strong performance on North American segments (+2.1%).
Cargo growth was also strong, with trade through Heathrow increasing 5.1% driven in particular by growth to emerging market destinations – Brazil up 18.6%, India up 12.1% and China up 8.3%.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: “Heathrow celebrated 70 years as the country’s front door in 2016 and I’m proud that we were able to end this year on such a high note."