Proactive Investors - Heathrow boasted the largest increase in passengers among its European counterparts in 2022, good news for British Airways (BA) owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LON:ICAG).
BA, which owns half the airline slots at the west London airport, would have seen a large bulk of the 61.6mln passengers that passed through in 2022 use its services.
In comparison, 42.2mln people used the airport in what was a largely Covid-restricted 2021.
July was the busiest month, with 6.3mln passengers, while December saw 5.9mln travellers, nearly double that of December 2021.
Passenger numbers surged after the UK binned all Covid restrictions in March despite the summer of travel chaos.
Thousands of customers were hit with delays or cancellations as airlines struggled to match demand due to staff shortages.
Despite the increase in passengers, demand remained below pre-pandemic 2019 levels at 76%.
Heathrow airport also warned that the sector could face further setbacks as Covid cases rocket in China.
The UK government has reinstated pre-travel Covid tests for anyone arriving in the UK from mainland China.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, commented: “The macroeconomic backdrop of a looming recession and sky-high inflation could weigh on consumer demand for holidays, while the post-pandemic normalisation of Zoom meetings continues to put pressure on business travel.”