Heathrow sees record passenger numbers next year

Heathrow Airport on Friday forecast record passenger numbers next year as the travel industry continued to recover from Covid pandemic restrictions.

The West London airport in a report said around 81.4 million passengers were expected to travel through its terminals in 2024.

Its previous record of 80.9 million was recorded in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. This year the total is expected to be 79.1 million passengers.

"This is based on the strong recovery seen this summer continuing, alongside the flight schedule and slot utilisation stabilising, although we remain cautious in the face of a higher cost of living, the global economy remaining relatively subdued and the potential fallout from geopolitical events," the report said.

"We expect sustained growth in passenger numbers from the Asia-Pacific region now that borders have fully reopened."

The growth in passenger numbers is now seen as levelling off, following a period of soaring figures as the world emerged from the Covid pandemic, fuelled by travel demand and savings accumulated during lockdowns.

A surge is also expected for the festive season, with Heathrow predicting that 6.5 million people will pass through the airport this month, which would be a 10% rise year on year for December.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com