Heathrow reports busiest month since March 2020

Heathrow said passenger numbers in May were at 79% of pre-coronavirus levels, its busiest month since March 2020, despite travel chaos that has seen hundreds of flights cancelled across UK airports due to staff shortages.

The west London airport said around 5.3 million people travelled through its facilities.

Heathrow said short-notice flight cancellations were no higher than usual, adding that its check-in processes had “generally worked well in May, with more passengers checking-in online, while 90% of passengers went through security in less than ten minutes.

Passenger levels were around eight times higher on May last year when the Covid-19 travel restrictions were in place.

The airport’s Terminal 4, which was closed due to the virus crisis, reopens on Tuesday ahead of the summer peak and will initially be used by 30 airlines.

Heathrow is one of several UK airports which have seen long queues in recent weeks as the aviation sector struggles to cope with the spike in demand for travel amid a staffing shortage.

“We continue to make good progress with our plans to ramp up capacity and are working closely with airlines and government to keep supply and demand in balance as we grow, so that passengers can travel through Heathrow this summer with confidence,” said chief executive John Holland-Kaye.