Heathrow increases lead over EU rivals for flight connections to the US

Heathrow increases lead over EU rivals for flight connections to the USA​

• The triple bank holiday in May, helped drive monthly passengers at Heathrow up to 6.7 million
• Heathrow currently has more daily flights than ever before between the UK and USA as airlines switch capacity to North Atlantic routes and away from European and East Asian markets, which have been slower to recover
• In May alone 1.6m Heathrow passengers flew across the North Atlantic. One in four passengers flying between the USA and Europe in May passed through Heathrow thanks to the choice of destinations and frequency. 248 daily flights to and from Heathrow now connect Britain to 31 US destinations, building trade links with the UK’s most important export market. As well as having more flights to New York than any European hub (over 30 daily departures), Heathrow is the only hub with a direct flight to Cincinnati
• The benefits this brings through trade and tourism demonstrate that Heathrow remains critically important as the UK’s gateway to the world
• Government must reinstate Tax Free Shopping to let British businesses and the UK economy maximise the benefits from recovering markets, instead of losing out to neighbours in France, Italy and Spain, where visitors currently spend more than double they do here
• Heathrow has successfully managed eight days of strikes during the busiest days in May, with no delays at security and no flight cancellations thanks to a strong contingency resource. We have been building that contingency team ahead of the summer season and do not anticipate cancellations as a result of any future strike action

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: “The unrivalled choice of destinations and high frequency to cities like New York make flights from Heathrow vital trade routes with the USA, Britain’s most important export market. We have delivered excellent service to passengers, with no cancellations, over eight days of strikes on the busiest days in May, and do not anticipate cancellations as a result of strikes during the summer holiday getaway.”

Traffic Summary
May 2023
Terminal Passengers (000s)	May 2023	% Change	Jan to May 2023	% Change	Jun 2022 to May 2023	% Change
Market
UK	371	14.2	1,711	32.9	3,779	38.5
EU	2,276	14.0	9,829	42.6	24,236	82.6
Non-EU Europe	409	11.3	2,084	26.2	4,880	65.2
Africa	284	24.9	1,493	37.0	3,283	79.2
North America	1,879	34.0	7,313	61.1	18,172	140.8
Latin America	167	21.3	867	32.0	1,934	87.1
Middle East	606	14.6	3,085	27.8	7,617	74.2
Asia / Pacific	736	106.3	3,650	135.8	7,650	169.2
Total	6,727	25.9	30,033	49.6	71,550	95.6
Air Transport Movements	May 2023	% Change	Jan to May 2023	% Change	Jun 2022 to May 2023	% Change
Market
UK	2,826	2.2	13,197	20.0	29,329	21.2
EU	17,182	5.4	77,192	29.9	183,847	53.3
Non-EU Europe	3,236	8.6	16,401	24.0	36,996	49.5
Africa	1,284	4.9	6,648	16.3	14,501	34.9
North America	8,325	18.4	35,836	41.4	84,682	73.5
Latin America	732	17.1	3,733	20.1	8,210	44.0
Middle East	2,553	18.5	12,117	26.5	28,106	34.0
Asia / Pacific	3,350	63.9	15,746	52.2	34,310	39.0
Total	39,488	12.4	180,870	31.3	419,981	50.1
Cargo (Metric Tonnes)	May 2023	% Change	Jan to May 2023	% Change	Jun 2022 to May 2023	% Change
Market
UK	18	-59.3	211	0.3	408	-38.0
EU	7,763	-16.4	38,298	-21.0	96,424	-21.5
Non-EU Europe	3,451	3.9	15,850	-10.2	40,152	-33.3
Africa	6,531	-10.8	31,488	-17.1	74,210	-8.1
North America	39,545	-15.7	215,277	-9.4	534,279	-1.9
Latin America	4,373	18.7	19,989	24.3	47,456	41.2
Middle East	21,500	6.4	99,585	7.2	245,254	5.1
Asia / Pacific	29,181	6.4	127,296	-11.7	314,732	-21.3
Total	112,363	-4.9	547,994	-7.9	1,352,916	-8.3