Heathrow Airport said passenger traffic is now 60% below pre-pandemic levels as the new travel restrictions are impacting demand, despite the recent reopening of the transatlantic routes to the US.
The government announced this week that passengers arriving in the UK must take a pre-departure COVID-19 test, as well as a post-flight test, because of fears about the spread of the new omicron variant of Coronavirus.
Heathrow said cancellations levels are high among business travellers, who fear being trapped overseas because of pre-departure testing.
The airport predicted a slow start to 2022 and expects to finish next year with around 45 million passengers, just over half of pre-pandemic levels.
It said it does not expect international travel to recover to 2019 levels until all travel restrictions are removed, which “is likely to be several years away”.
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The airport urged the government to reduce travel restrictions as soon as it is safe and to “allow UK nationals from red list countries to isolate at home so that they can be reunited with loved ones for Christmas”.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: "By allowing Brits to isolate at home, ministers can make sure they are reunited with their loved ones this Christmas.
“It would send a strong signal that restrictions on travel will be removed as soon as safely possible to give passengers the confidence to book for 2022, opening up thousands of new jobs for local people at Heathrow. Let's reunite families for Christmas."