Another record year has been reported by Europe’s busiest aviation hub, around 200,000 passengers passed through the Heathrow Airport in a day during the first three months of the year.
17.7 million passengers travelled via the London’s leading airport between January and march 2018 showing an increase of 3.1 per cent in the firt quarter of 2017. Latin America saw the sharpest rise in traffic with 6.9 percent and Africa with 6.5 per cent.
Europe and North America’s domestic routes and services saw a slower rate than the average.
The operating profit for Q1 was £220m which was up from £212m in the first quarter of 2017.
John Hollande-Kaye the airport chief executive said that the aeronautical income from the charges levied on airlines was £22.67 per passenger. The earnings from the retail spend rose 2.3 per cent to £8.82 for an average traveler.
He was delighted that the passengers chose Heathrow in record numbers signifying that they delivering value for money.
They are closer to the Parliament voting on expanding Heathrow and now they are more committed to develop that Britain will be proud of in the days to come .
The preferred scheme for additional airport capacity in south-east England was shared by the government. It will be a new runway at Heathrow which is north-west of the existing pair.
A runway length of at least 3,500 m was stipulated by the Department of Transport to enable a minimum of 260,000 additional airport transport movement per annum, which is a 54 per cent increase on the current figure.
Before the summer recess the government will be publishing a final Airports National Policy Statement for a vote in the House of the Commons.
In 2020 a formal planning application is expected to be submitted considering the third runway opening in the late 2025 or 2026.
With the expansion of the expanded Heathrow the Airlines have been demanding commitments on the costs while the opponents are of the opinion that the third runway will breach the environmental targets.
John Mc Donnell, the shadow chancellor mentioned that they can be confident the third runway will not go ahead and the government should be realistic. They should stop wasting time, resources and go ahead with other options.
