Heathrow airport, the UK’s biggest aviation hub, will open its mothballed Terminal 4 by July, as it predicts a recovery after its worst year in half-a-century.
Passenger numbers at Heathrow fell to 19.4m last year, the lowest since 1972. The airport’s bosses blame the UK’s tight travel restrictions for it being the only European hub to see a reduction in traffic in 2021, due to tighter travel restrictions than EU countries.
The airport’s cumulative losses during the pandemic have reached £3.8bn as Heathrow lost its previous dominance of European aviation.
The chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said: “While 2021 was the worst year in Heathrow’s history, I am very proud of the way that colleagues focused on passengers.
“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.
“We’re excited to welcome more passengers back to Heathrow to experience the joys of travel and get Britain’s economy firing on all cylinders again.”
Mr Holland-Kaye said he was “anxious” that the Civil Aviation Authority would not allow the airport to raise passenger charges sufficiently to avoid the return of what he called “Heathrow hassle” – longer queues and delays.
Passenger numbers are currently 23 per cent behind forecast, but Heathrow predicts a strong summer for outbound tourism and expects to meet its 2022 target of 45.5m passengers. That would represent barely half of the pre-pandemic numbers.
The airport says inbound tourism and business travel “remain key challenges”. Travel is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until all restrictions have been removed and passengers are confident checks will not be reimposed.
Heathrow’s planned expansion, with a controversial third runway, is currently on ice – but the airport says it will review plans in the coming year.
