Heathrow passenger numbers lowest in 50 years due to Covid-19 travel restrictions

Heathrow airport has said that passenger numbers fell to their lowest level for 50 years in 2021, as it was hit by Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Passenger numbers fell to 19.4 million last year, down from 22 million in 2020 and the lowest since 1972.

Before the pandemic the airport had about 80 million passengers per year.

Heathrow’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye says that he does not expect numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025 or 2026.

"It’s going to take a little time, a few years, before we get back to the kind of passenger numbers we experienced before the pandemic,” he said.

"I think it’ll probably be 2025, 2026, before we fully get back there.

"Demand is now starting to recover and we are working closely with airlines to scale-up our operations and reopen Terminal 4 for the summer travel peak.”

The airport is expected to meet its target of 45.5 million passengers this year.

Heathrow said that while demand for outbound tourism had been boosted by the removal of restrictions in Britain, inbound tourism and business travel remained suppressed because of testing in other countries.

It said it did not expect travel to return to pre-pandemic levels until all restrictions had been removed and passengers were confident they would not be reimposed.