Passenger numbers nearly 80% of 2019 levels at London Heathrow....

London Heathrow saw some 5.3m passengers going through the airport during May,  around 79% of the number that used the airport in the same month in 2019, according to the latest information released this week.

The UK’s busiest international airport also claims to have performed well,  with just 10% of passengers taking longer than 10 minutes to pass through security. It also assured passengers that despite media headlines, no more flights were cancelled at short notice than on any normal day. 

Heathrow’s management say they are on track to reopen Terminal 4 tomorrow in time for the increased demand expected for the peak of summer. Qatar Airways will be the first to move, they will be followed by around 30 airlines over the following month

This move is said to allow Terminal 4 airlines more check-in space and stand capacity as well as access to premium facilities such as lounges and dedicated areas. Shifting some airline over to terminal 4 will also have an impact on carriers remaining in the other terminals, as more room will become available.

 

While Terminal 4 has been closed to the public over the last two years,  it wasn’t closed to staff and many improvements have been made. The airport said “Over the last two years, we have taken the opportunity to refurbish many parts of Terminal 4, including upgrading toilets, air conditioning and hold baggage screening machines.”

“We are recruiting up to 1,000 new security officers and other colleagues, and supporting airlines and handlers in their recruitment programmes. We have increased our customer service team to help manage queues in check in, make sure passengers are ready for security and make sure people can catch their flights.”

Heathrow says it is working closely with each of its airlines and the wider supply chain to make a real difference as they ready themselves for the ramp up in demand.

Airlines returning to Terminal 4: Air Algerie, Air Astana, Air Malta, Air Mauritius, Air Serbia, Azerbaijan Airlines, Bulgarian Air, El Al – Israeli Airlines, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air, ITA Airlines, Kenya Airways, Korean Air, Kuwait Airways, Malaysian Airlines, Omanair, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Brunei, Saudi Arabia Airlines, TAROM, Tunis Air, Uzbekistan Airways, Vietnam Airlines.

Terminal 4 will also be the place where Russian airlines will operate from should the current traffic and air space restrictions be lifted.

Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye said: “I’m immensely proud of the way my team has worked with airlines and other partners to ensure passengers got away during the Jubilee half term.  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. We now need a regulatory settlement from the CAA that protects service and resilience levels, incentivises investment and maintains affordable private financing. Failure to invest risks degrading passenger experience at a time when it has never been more important for operations to ramp up smoothly.”

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