Heathrow on course for busiest ever summer

Heathrow said popular holiday destinations last month were Spain, Greece, Italy and Turkey

Heathrow Airport said it had set a new monthly record for passenger numbers, with nearly eight million people passing through its terminals in August.

The airport also saw its busiest day last month, with 269,000 passengers on 18 August.

That means it is on course to serve 30 million passengers between June and September, which would be the most for that period in the airport's history.

Heathrow previously reported experiencing a record number of passengers during the first half of this year.

'Busiest summer'

It saw an additional one million passengers compared with the same period in the first half of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns.

Among the popular holiday destinations from the west London airport last month were Spain, Greece, Italy and Turkey, Heathrow said.

Additionally, the Taylor Swift concerts brought in an extra 40,000 passengers this summer, with fans travelling for her European Eras Tour shows, Heathrow said.

Chief executive Thomas Woldbye said he was grateful to staff their "preparation and dedication to delivering an extraordinary getaway for more passengers than ever before, maintaining strong service levels during what has been our busiest summer".

"For the past four months we have broken several new records, demonstrating our ability to open a world of opportunity for more people, cargo, business and the UK economy."

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) - which owns and operates Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands Airports - said it had also had a record-breaking summer.

Passenger numbers across its airports reached nearly seven million in August, up 6.6% from the same month in 2023.

Manchester and Stansted airports had their busiest ever months in August, with 3.4 million and 3.1 million passengers respectively.