Heathrow airport, the main base of British Airways, said air travel demand into and out of the London hub was weaker than expected in January and that more than 1.3mln passengers cancelled or did not book their trips over the past two months.
With restrictions for vaccinated passengers in and out of the UK removed as of today, the airport said bookings for outbound tourism are recovering but inbound tourism and business travel “remain weak”.
It said this was due to COVID-19 levels in the UK and other countries, as well as the risk of new border closures in the event of a new variant of concern.
The airport forecasts flight numbers for the whole of 2022 will be just over half the levels seen pre-pandemic, with strong demand expected for outbound summer holidays.
It said it is working with airlines and ground handling companies to increase resources across the airport ahead of the summer peak.
British Airway, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group (LSE:IAG), has just over half the slots at Heathrow, at 4,887, followed by Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic.
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “After a tough Christmas, Omicron has continued to bite and this has been a weak start to the year.
“As short-lived as the additional travel restrictions were, they ruined the travel plans of more than 1.3 million passengers in the last two months.”
"Today's removal of restrictions for vaccinated passengers in and out of the UK offers a ray of hope, but the Omicron hangover proves demand remains fragile, and at risk to new variants of concern and Government needs to set out a playbook for managing future variants that allows travel and trade to keep flowing."