Proactive Investors - Heathrow Airport continues to report lower sales and profits but increased its full-year forecast for passenger numbers after a record 63.1 million passed through its gates in the first nine months of 2024.
In the latest quarter, from June to September, 30.7 million passengers took off or landed at the west London hub, including record single days for departures and arrivals, on 24 July and 2 September respectively.
This has led to a nine-month passenger total up 6.2% on the prior year and to the airport hiking its forecast for the full calendar year to 83.8 million.
This bodes well for Heathrow's largest customer, British Airways and its parent company International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:ICAG) SA (LSE:IAG), which holds over half of the airport's slots.
Nine-month revenue of almost £2.7 billion was down 3% on the prior year, with underlying profit (EBITDA) down 10% to just over £1.5 billion.
A swing to an adjusted profit before tax of £350 million was made from the £19 million loss at this point a year ago, excluding non-cash fair value gains and losses on investment properties and financial instruments.
Cash generation fell 1.9% to £1.5 billion.
"This summer has tested our colleagues, infrastructure and airlines to cooperate harder than ever before, with record numbers of passengers travelling through the busiest two runway airport in the world," said CEO Thomas Woldbye.
He said the airport had delivered "excellent service" as over 91% of passengers had waiting at security for less than five minutes (which means 9% or 5.679 million passengers waited for longer).
Looking to next week's Autumn Budget, he called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to "back British SAF", referring to sustainable air fuel, through a "revenue certainty mechanism and committing to joined up policy making that makes sense for aviation will supercharge Heathrow's potential to deliver growth and investment for the whole of the country".