European city breaks drive Heathrow passenger numbers to new high

(Sharecast News) - Strong demand for air travel over the October half-term break pushed Heathrow's passenger numbers to another record high last month, helped by a surge in traffic to European cities. The UK's largest airport reported on Tuesday that the number of terminal passengers - defined as those travelling to and departing from the airport on an aircraft - reached 7.37m in October, up 2.1% over the previous year.

The busiest-ever October was driven by a 2.9% year-on-year increase in passengers travelling to the European Union - Heathrow's largest market with 2.58m passengers last month - helped by popular destinations like Brussels, Lyon, Marseille and Vienna.

The second-largest market, North America, saw a 0.3% decline in traffic to 1.85m, while Asia-Pacific traffic jumped 4.7% to 0.90m.

Domestic flights within the UK, meanwhile, increased 2.5% to 403,000.

"The numbers speak for themselves - working with airlines, Heathrow is serving more passengers on time than any other European hub. We have the skills and knowledge to deliver a world-class airport today, and we are ready and waiting to use this to expand the UK's gateway to growth," said chief executive Thomas Woldbye in a statement.

The airport used its bumper monthly statistics to urge the government to address the Valuation Office Agency's "punitive revaluation in business rates for airports" in the upcoming budget.

"Heathrow faces an eye-watering multiple-fold increase. Left unchecked, these would drive unacceptable costs for airlines and could deter private investors who are ready to help UK aviation to grow and improve services, with billions in UK supply chain spend at stake," the airport said.