Surge in demand following government removal of travel restrictions

Surge in demand following government removal of travel restrictions​

• Following a very weak January and February, passenger numbers in March were the highest since the start of the pandemic, following the Government’s removal of all travel restrictions, making the UK the first country in the world to do so. This demand is being driven by outbound leisure at weekends and during school holidays, as Brits make the most of the freedom to travel and cash in vouchers from trips cancelled during covid. Inbound leisure and business travel remains weak due to high covid levels in the UK and the requirement to test before returning home.
• The aviation sector has been rebuilding capacity ahead of a summer peak, so resources are stretched. Heathrow is working closely with airlines and ground handlers to make sure this increase in demand can be met while keeping passengers safe. Half of global markets still require covid checks including testing, vaccination status and quarantine, which is causing particular congestion in check-in areas at peak times. Heathrow is advising passengers to check with their airline to confirm when they should get to the airport. Other airport processes are currently working to plan and Heathrow is working with Border Force to ensure sufficient levels of resource are in place to cope with the large number of passengers returning to the UK over the next couple of weeks.
• As the summer peak is expected to be very busy, with peak days close to 2019 levels, Heathrow is increasing resources as fast as possible, with 12,000 new starters planned across the airport.
• The return of demand is very welcome, though it is unclear whether the current surge in outbound leisure demand is sustainable, or what impact the war in Ukraine, high fuel prices, low GDP growth and potential new variants of concern will have on medium term demand. We are reviewing our forecasts and will give a further update later in April.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said:
“It is fantastic to see the airport coming back to life after two years, and I want to thank all Team Heathrow colleagues for working together to serve our passengers. Everyone at Heathrow is doing everything we can to make sure passengers get on their way as smoothly and safely as possible.”

Traffic Summary
March 2022
Terminal Passengers (000s)	Mar 2022	% Change	Jan to Mar 2022	% Change	Apr 2021 to Mar 2022	% Change
Market
UK	280	384.2	670	304.0	2,272	219.0
EU	1,397	896.3	2,977	568.6	9,790	150.1
Non-EU Europe	376	688.1	878	594.4	2,289	175.8
Africa	238	293.9	618	224.0	1,467	165.1
North America	889	1614.8	1,939	970.1	5,096	516.8
Latin America	134	2468.5	378	1727.0	770	427.1
Middle East	563	758.8	1,350	429.0	3,396	208.6
Asia / Pacific	320	183.5	848	187.7	2,292	116.2
Total	4,197	674.8	9,659	474.9	27,372	199.4
Air Transport Movements	Mar 2022	% Change	Jan to Mar 2022	% Change	Apr 2021 to Mar 2022	% Change
Market
UK	2,244	207.0	5,937	180.0	21,031	148.4
EU	12,296	503.6	27,671	351.0	94,095	100.9
Non-EU Europe	2,788	441.4	7,113	351.0	19,969	123.0
Africa	1,213	102.5	3,292	88.4	9,431	65.5
North America	4,683	100.0	12,433	97.2	40,900	73.9
Latin America	645	571.9	1,857	480.3	4,694	149.3
Middle East	1,960	73.3	5,413	58.6	19,045	45.2
Asia / Pacific	2,170	8.4	6,411	22.1	24,125	19.1
Total	27,999	196.2	70,127	161.0	233,290	81.2
Cargo (Metric Tonnes)	Mar 2022	% Change	Jan to Mar 2022	% Change	Apr 2021 to Mar 2022	% Change
Market
UK	5	-47.7	19	-65.8	183	15.3
EU	11,384	0.7	29,018	-0.4	121,080	40.1
Non-EU Europe	2,968	-47.6	10,045	-40.6	60,741	11.8
Africa	7,699	-4.5	23,362	3.3	78,339	9.3
North America	54,267	26.8	135,881	30.9	513,832	42.1
Latin America	3,361	147.3	8,965	177.5	29,225	13.3
Middle East	19,400	5.2	51,850	-1.9	227,637	10.1
Asia / Pacific	29,895	-16.5	89,400	-2.2	400,438	23.4
Total	128,978	4.5	348,539	8.9	1,431,475	26.5