London Heathrow Airport (LHR) reported strong passenger traffic numbers for May, with the month’s totals nearly matching pre-pandemic levels, bolstered by transatlantic flying.
The airport handled 6.72 million passengers in May, just below the 6.76 million passengers handled in May 2019. It was the most traffic handled by the airport since before the COVID-19 pandemic and the third straight month of more than 6 million passengers.
LHR notes that 1.6 million of those monthly passengers were traveling across the Atlantic.
“One in four passengers flying between the [U.S.] and Europe in May passed through Heathrow thanks to the choice of destinations and frequency,” Heathrow says in a statement.
The airport says that 248 daily flights "to and from Heathrow now connect Britain to 31 U.S. destinations, building trade links with the UK’s most important export market.”
Heathrow says it has more flights to the New York market than any European airport, with 30 daily departures to John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports combined.
“The unrivaled choice of destinations and high frequency to cities like New York make flights from Heathrow vital trade routes with the [U.S.],” Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye says.
Meanwhile, the airport has opened a public consultation period on its 2024-28 noise action plan through July 17. The plan includes “reviewing the landing charge structure to balance sustainable growth and environmental objectives,” as well as implementing revised flight landing paths to the airport, among other initiatives.
Heathrow Director of Communities and Sustainability Becky Coffin says: “As the UK’s hub airport, Heathrow is an asset for West London’s economy ... But we know that those communities closest to the airport also experience the negative impacts of noise, which is why we’re updating our noise action plan with a new set of proposals to make flights and nights quieter for local residents over the next five years.”
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