 |
| London Heathrow Photo London Heathrow |
London Heathrow’s passenger numbers continued to climb in March despite the Brexit uncertainty the airport has revealed with its latest performance figures released this week. During March over 6.5 million passengers travelled through the UK’s busiest international hub airport, the 29th consecutive month of record growth for the airport. Notable spikes in the previous month were St Patricks and Mother’s Day.
Africa performed especially well over the past month the airport said, increasing by 6.2% compared to the same time last year. Domestic connections also saw a slight uplift (+0.2%) with British Airways launching its 2nd service to Inverness and Flybe growing their loads by more than a fifth (23%) with an inaugural flight to Cornwall on March 31st.
More than 149,000 metric tonnes of cargo travelled through the UK’s biggest port by value, further demonstrating the importance of Heathrow. Both Latin America and Africa saw remarkable double-digit growth with the former up 23% on 2018 due to additional services to Brazil and increased volumes to Mexico. Freight to and from Africa grew by 11%, thanks to Virgin’s growth on routes to the continent.
Two of Heathrow’s Terminals made it into the top five globally, with Terminal 5 taking top spot. In addition, Heathrow was voted amongst the world’s top 10 airports overall and won “Best airport in Western Europe” and “World’s Best Airport Shopping”.
In March, Heathrow launched the airport’s new Innovation Prize to fund ideas and solutions addressing aviation environmental impact. The prize is sponsored by Heathrow’s new Centre of Excellence for Sustainability, which connects experts and offers Heathrow as a living laboratory to test and develop ideas that encourage sustainable aviation.
 |
| Photo London Heathrow |
The expansion project reached another significant milestone, as the names and locations of the 18 shortlisted sites in the running to become offsite construction centres for Britain’s new runway were revealed. Shortlisted sites will now pitch to airport bosses for their chance to become one of the final four construction centres, to be announced early next year.
Heathrow announced the launch of their 10th domestic route. The route is operated by Flybe and links the hub airport to Cornwall in Newquay for the first time since 1997.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: “Despite Brexit uncertainty, Heathrow remains a bright light for the UK, with the role we play in keeping people and products moving evident. Our new domestic connections will be pivotal in linking more regions and nations to global opportunities, benefiting all corners of this great country and we look forward to announcing many more of these as part of the expansion programme.”
Traffic Summary
| ||||||
March 2019
| ||||||
Terminal Passengers
(000s) |
Mar 2019
|
% Change
|
Jan to
Mar 2019 |
% Change
|
Apr 2018 to
Mar 2019 |
% Change
|
Market
| ||||||
UK
|
391
|
0.2
|
1,039
|
-5.4
|
4,736
|
-2.0
|
EU
|
2,217
|
2.4
|
5,893
|
2.1
|
27,722
|
2.9
|
Non-EU Europe
|
487
|
0.2
|
1,332
|
-0.7
|
5,713
|
-0.1
|
Africa
|
304
|
6.2
|
891
|
8.2
|
3,406
|
5.8
|
North America
|
1,471
|
3.6
|
3,838
|
5.4
|
18,296
|
4.9
|
Latin America
|
115
|
2.8
|
342
|
5.0
|
1,367
|
4.0
|
Middle East
|
597
|
-10.9
|
1,768
|
-5.4
|
7,559
|
-1.7
|
Asia / Pacific
|
945
|
-1.9
|
2,834
|
0.7
|
11,551
|
1.6
|
Total
|
6,527
|
0.5
|
17,937
|
1.4
|
80,350
|
2.3
|
Air Transport Movements
|
Mar 2019
|
% Change
|
Jan to
Mar 2019 |
% Change
|
Apr 2018 to
Mar 2019 |
% Change
|
Market
| ||||||
UK
|
3,089
|
-2.2
|
8,442
|
-9.7
|
37,828
|
-6.4
|
EU
|
17,572
|
2.0
|
49,206
|
0.2
|
212,607
|
0.2
|
Non-EU Europe
|
3,922
|
4.9
|
11,036
|
1.6
|
43,882
|
-1.4
|
Africa
|
1,347
|
7.8
|
3,945
|
8.7
|
14,753
|
3.0
|
North America
|
6,777
|
1.6
|
19,166
|
1.2
|
82,802
|
1.8
|
Latin America
|
513
|
6.2
|
1,521
|
7.3
|
6,097
|
6.4
|
Middle East
|
2,546
|
-3.9
|
7,469
|
-2.0
|
30,509
|
-2.1
|
Asia / Pacific
|
4,083
|
3.8
|
11,908
|
4.4
|
47,525
|
4.9
|
Total
|
39,849
|
1.9
|
112,693
|
0.3
|
476,003
|
0.2
|
Cargo
(Metric Tonnes) |
Mar 2019
|
% Change
|
Jan to
Mar 2019 |
% Change
|
Apr 2018 to
Mar 2019 |
% Change
|
Market
| ||||||
UK
|
46
|
-55.9
|
149
|
-45.8
|
790
|
-26.9
|
EU
|
8,686
|
-14.4
|
23,062
|
-20.6
|
104,802
|
-8.1
|
Non-EU Europe
|
5,103
|
15.9
|
14,372
|
14.7
|
58,998
|
5.1
|
Africa
|
8,677
|
11.4
|
23,918
|
11.5
|
91,145
|
0.1
|
North America
|
56,571
|
-0.7
|
153,856
|
-1.1
|
605,214
|
-2.4
|
Latin America
|
5,312
|
23.9
|
13,849
|
17.0
|
54,396
|
9.7
|
Middle East
|
21,378
|
-3.5
|
60,589
|
-2.8
|
254,734
|
-5.3
|
Asia / Pacific
|
43,644
|
-2.4
|
118,378
|
-4.3
|
506,497
|
-1.6
|
Total
|
149,417
|
-0.8
|
408,173
|
-2.1
|
1,676,576
|
-2.3
|
More you might like....
