Heathrow on the up as it records £38m profit for first time since pandemic
Heathrow Airport has made a profit for the first time since 2019, thanks to more people travelling around the world again.
The airport's owners said they made £38 million in 2023, compared to the £684 million they lost the year before. This is the first time they've made money since 2019. The number of passengers using Heathrow jumped by 28.6%, with 79.2 million people passing through its doors. The end of the year was particularly busy, with December being the busiest month ever.
Heathrow expects even more people will use the airport this year, expecting numbers to rise to 81.4 million in 2024. The busiest year so far was 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, when 80.9 million passengers used the airport.
Plans are still going ahead to build a third runway at Heathrow, despite some legal problems and delays caused by the pandemic. Thomas Woldbye, the new boss of Heathrow, said the increase in passenger numbers makes it even more important to build the third runway.
He said that the airport will share a "revised strategy" soon, which will include plans for expansion and other ways to increase capacity: "We need to not only focus on the third runway of course which needs to be updated so we have the right facts for that decision, we're going to make that a reality in the right way but also what kind of capacity can we create within the current boundaries of Heathrow to make sure that we can serve our passengers as best as possible."
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When asked if he believes a third runway is possible, Mr Woldbye said: "This is a huge project of huge significance to the UK, to our airlines, to the passengers, but also all the people around Heathrow. We're very aware of our responsibility in that regard and making sure that we come up with the right decision."
“At the current time I can’t be sure of that much, but that is exactly the process we are going to go into, to make sure we have the right basis to take the right kind of decision for all the people and all the stakeholders that are involved.”
Heathrow faced difficulties due to the "huge cost challenge" from the UK aviation regulator. The airport has been critical of the Civil Aviation Authority's decision not to let it increase its landing fees. Mr Woldbye added: "2023 was a good year for Heathrow from a challenging start to a great finish."
He added: “We delivered much improved service for our customers, and managed to turn a small profit after three consecutive years of losses.nThat's a great platform to build on, although in 2024 we are expected to deliver even further improved service to more passengers, but with airport charges cut by 20% in real terms."
"We will have to pull every lever to become more efficient and make tough choices on where we spend and invest our money to overcome the huge cost challenge set by the CAA and remain profitable over the next three years."
The CAA has lowered the limit on Heathrow's average charge per passenger from £31.57 for 2022 and 2023 to £25.43 for the next three years. Heathrow's records show that last year, 63.4% of flights left within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, an improvement from 59.0% the year before.
These results come shortly after Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund agreed to purchase a 10% share in Heathrow Airport. Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial sold its 25% stake in Europe's busiest airport to the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and French company Ardian, which secured a 15% stake. Ferrovial had been the airport's largest shareholder since 2006 before the sale.
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