Heathrow saw the highest total number of crimes committed of any UK airport last year, figures show, though Luton had a worse crime rate overall.
Analysis conducted by security firm Get Licensed found that a total of 2,494 crimes were committed at Heathrow in 2022.
But Luton was found to have the highest crime rate overall of any airport in the capital when adjusting for the number of passengers, with 7.2 crimes committed per 100,000 travellers. However, its number of overall crimes (959) was significantly lower than Heathrow.
The only airport with a higher rate was Humberside Airport, with a total of 9.7 crimes per 100,000 passengers.
The data was obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to police forces across the country.
Leeds Bradford Airport was found to have the lowest crime rate overall, with 0.2 crimes per 100,000 passengers.
Heathrow saw a 124 per cent increase in crime from 2021 to 2022 but the figures are likely to be skewed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw most international travel ground to a halt for large swathes of 2021.
London City Airport saw the biggest rise in crime of any airport in the capital during this period, with a 296 per cent increase.
Theft offences were the most commonly reported crime last year (2,891), followed by Miscellaneous Crimes Against Society (1,821), which includes offences such as skipping bail or dangerous driving. Violent crimes were the third most common offences reported (555).
The number of sexual offences in UK airports increased by 148 per cent in 2022 compared with the year before.
Luton saw the highest number of offences relating to possession of a weapon (87).
Get Licensed were unable to obtain data from East Midlands Airport, London Southend Airport, Gatwick Airport, Southampton Airport, Newquay Airport, City of Derry Airport and Exeter Airport.
Heathrow Airport was contacted for comment.
