Alone among Europe’s major airline hubs, London Heathrow’s passenger traffic declined last year compared to 2020, the first pandemic year, seeing 12.3% fewer passengers in 2021 than in 2020.
The 19.4 million passengers who used the airport last year was the lowest total since 1972. The airport blamed the decline, and consequent revenue losses, on the UK’s tighter restrictions on international travel, requiring extensive testing before and after arrival, and for a time imposing long quarantines on travelers long after other countries scrapped them.
Figures for other major hubs show Frankfurt up by 32.2%, Amsterdam Schiphol 22% and Paris Charles de Gaulle up 17.7%. Heathrow execs called 2021 “the worst year in Heathrow’s history” and says that although he hopes for a strong summer rebound, he does not see pre-pandemic demand returning until 2025 or 2026.
