Heathrow enjoys record year with 75 m passengers

Nearly 75 million passengers travelled through Heathrow in 2015, an increase of 2.2% on 2014 and the airport’s highest ever number of annual passengers.

Larger, quieter aircraft contributed to the increase in annual passenger volumes, with seats per aircraft increasing 2.1% to 209 while load factors remained constant at 76.5% and passengers per aircraft rose 1.9% to 160. At the end of 2015, over 20 daily Airbus A380 departures and arrivals were operated by eight airlines.

Emerging markets continued to be a driver of traffic growth at Heathrow, with passenger volumes up 14% to China, 8% to Latin America and 6% to the Middle East.

Heathrow also played a leading role in helping Britain’s exports reach global markets, with the UK’s largest port by value recording cargo volumes of 1.5 million metric tons for the year.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said, “2015 has been a banner year for Heathrow, serving more passengers than ever and being recognised in a number of awards as the best major airport in Europe for both passenger service and eco-innovation. The record levels of passenger satisfaction are due to a significant increase in training, apprenticeships and the number of front line colleagues moving into management roles. Our new expansion plan will make Heathrow the most sustainable hub airport, and Britain the best connected country in the world.”

December 2015 passenger volumes remained consistent with 2014 at 5.9 million passengers choosing to travel through the airport over the festive season.

Passenger volumes continued growth within emerging markets, increasing 16% to Mexico, 6% to the Middle East and 5% to China.

Cargo volumes were up 0.8%, with increases driven by growth from emerging markets – notably, Nigeria up 50%, China up 20% and Turkey up 20%.