UK hub airport Heathrow has increased its forecast for passenger traffic this year as the recovery in travel gathers pace but is warning of a significant “drop off” next winter.
The airport is now predicting that it will cater for 52.8 million passengers in 2022 – up from a previous forecast of 45.5 million. This new figure would represent 65 per cent of Heathrow’s pre-Covid annual passenger traffic.
Passenger numbers rose to 9.7 million at Heathrow during the first three months of the year which was “in line with forecasts”. This compared with just 1.7 million passengers in the first quarter of 2021 when international travel was largely banned through Covid restrictions.
But Heathrow warned that demand “remains very volatile” with post-summer traffic set to be hit by higher fuel costs, lower economic growth, the war in Ukraine and continued disruption from the pandemic.
The airport added that it was already seeing airlines cancelling services into the autumn as some key markets remain closed to international travel, such as China.
Despite the increase in traffic, Heathrow is still expecting to make a loss in 2022 with total losses adding up to more than £4 billion since the start of the pandemic.
Heathrow has again stressed that it does not accept the CAA’s current proposals for the airport’s charges and warned that it would lead to “longer queues and more frequent delays”.
CEO John Holland-Kaye added: “These past few weeks have only reinforced our view that passengers want easy, quick and reliable journeys every time they travel and we can continue to deliver that for less than a two per cent increase in ticket prices.
“The CAA should be aiming to secure this win for passengers instead of pushing plans which will cut investment in service, increase queues and make delays a permanent feature post-Covid.”