Heathrow sees record passenger numbers in year to May

Heathrow served a record number of passengers over the past year after the the busiest-ever May, the UK airport announced on Tuesday.

Some 81.5m passengers used the hub airport in the 12 months to May, up 13.9% on the equivalent period the year before.

Heathrow said that 7.2m journeys made in May alone – the first time traffic has exceeded 7m in the month of May, and 6.7% higher than last year.

The airport saw the biggest growth in Asia-Pacific terminal passenger numbers in May, rising 15.8% year-on-year to 852,000, followed by non-EU Europe growing 11.4% to 455,000 and EU rising 9% to 2.48m.

Looking forward, Heathrow also said it expects more records to be broken in the coming months with an estimated 30m passengers using the airport this summer.

“We have a winning team at Heathrow which has proven that we have put Covid firmly behind us," said Heathrow's chief executive Thomas Woldbye.

"Thanks to their extraordinary efforts we are now giving record numbers of people the chance to connect smoothly with the world. Supporting 81m journeys doesn’t just help families to make wonderful holiday memories, importantly it is about the vital trade and business links a hub like Heathrow creates for the UK’s economy.”