Heathrow losses balloon despite passenger recovery

An uptick in passengers was not enough to stem steep losses at Britain’s largest airport Heathrow.

Pre-tax losses for the year to September remained elevated at over £1.3bn, down slightly from £1.5bn over the same period last year.

John Holland-Kaye, chief executive at Heathrow, said: “We are on the cusp of a recovery which will unleash pent-up demand, create new quality jobs and see Britain’s trade roar back to life – but it risks a hard landing unless secured for the long-haul.”

“To do that, we need continued focus on the global vaccination programme so that borders can reopen without testing; we need a fair financial settlement from the CAA to sustain service and resilience after 15 years of negative real returns for investors; and we need a progressively increasing global mandate for Sustainable Aviation Fuels so that we can protect the benefits of aviation in a world without carbon.”

More to follow.