Heathrow Airport sat close to meeting pre-pandemic passenger figures again in June, marking positive news for main operator British Airways.
Some 7.04mln people passed through the airport in June, compared to 7.25mln in 2019, marking a shortfall of just 3%.
Just over 31mln people travelled via the airport during the first six months of the year, around 500,000 fewer than in the first half of 2019.
Global aviation has crept towards recovery after flights were grounded by the pandemic in 2020, with growing passenger figures at Heathrow marking a boost for International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG)-owned British Airways - Heathrow’s main operator.
BA, which owns over 50% of the airport’s slots and is the exclusive operator from Heathrow’s Terminal Five, has also eyed its own recovery, penning a return to profitability in the first quarter of this year.
IAG subsequently laid out operating profit guidance of between €1.8bn to €2.3bn for the full year, with capacity expected to be around 97% of 2019 levels.
Though May’s figures had been closer to catching up year-on-year, with bank holidays boosting numbers to just 0.6% off the same month pre-pandemic, June marked the first month in which over 7mln people travelled through Heathrow in almost three years.
For the whole year, Britain’s busiest airport is anticipating between 70mln and 78mln passengers, implying figures could be as close as 4% to 2019’s record-breaking traffic of 80.9mln people.
Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye attributed strong demand for transatlantic flights to the sustained recovery, adding the airport was geared up for the busiest time of the year.
British Airways parent IAG is due to report second-quarter results on July 28 meanwhile.