London Heathrow Airport has called for an “honest conversation” about expansion after another record month for passenger numbers. Last month, more than 7.2 million passengers passed through its terminals. This is 0.4% more than a year ago, making this May the busiest in the airport’s history.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “As these record numbers become the norm, it’s time to start an honest conversation about the challenges this presents for an already space-constrained yet highly efficient hub. Heathrow continues to provide an excellent service, but to maintain these levels and meet future demand, capacity must be expanded.”
The airport previously announced that it would present detailed plans for the construction of a third runway to the UK government in the summer.
In January, Chancellor Rachel Reeves expressed her support for the project, which has been repeatedly delayed for decades due to environmental concerns, in a speech on growth.
Heathrow Airport ranks fourth in the world in terms of traffic and has been the undisputed leader in Europe for many years. The UK’s main air hub is located approximately 25 kilometres from the centre of the capital. Heathrow Airport has five passenger terminals and one cargo terminal.
Heathrow serves about 90 airlines, connects to 170 airports in other countries, and handles about 70 million passengers a year. A unique feature of Heathrow is that its runways are located from west to east, so planes take off directly over London.
