Heathrow expects fewer passengers this year than 2020

London's Heathrow Airport has warned that "expensive testing requirements and travel restrictions" could see fewer passengers use the airport this year than last year.

It expects a sharp increase in passengers in the second half of 2021, helped by changes to the UK government's traffic light travel system, but the airport's base case forecast is for overall numbers to fall around 3pc short of 2020. Under the base case forecast — which assumes "ongoing political caution around border controls" and the gradual addition of countries to the government's 'green list' over the rest of the year — Heathrow expects 21.5mn passengers this year, down from 22.1mn last year and 73.4pc lower than pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

Travel restrictions weighed heavily on Heathrow passenger numbers in the first half of this year, with fewer than 4mn travelling through the UK airport between January and June, compared with 15.4mn in the same period of 2020 and 38.8mn in the first half of 2019. Europe was Heathrow's most popular destination in January-June, while travel to the US lagged 2020 levels by 86pc.

The UK government recently removed the need for fully vaccinated UK residents and children under the age of 18 to isolate when returning from its 'amber' list of destinations, a move welcomed by Heathrow. But concerns over the spread of the Delta variant in the UK mean some countries are still restricting UK arrivals.

Furthermore, "Britain is losing out on tourism income and trade with key economic partners like the EU and US because ministers continue to restrict travel for passengers fully vaccinated outside the UK," the airport said today. "Trade routes between the EU and the US have recovered to nearly 50pc of pre-pandemic levels while the UK remains 92pc down."

The steep drop in passenger numbers more than halved Heathrow's revenue to £348mn ($478mn) in January-June. But cost-cutting measures helped the airport narrow its losses to £917mn from £998mn a year earlier.

SAF support

Heathrow supports the idea of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate in the UK and today called on the government not to waste time in implementing it.

"The government must act now to introduce a mandate that requires a minimum of 10pc SAF use by airlines by 2030, rising to at least 50pc by 2050," it said, adding that 62pc of airlines operating at Heathrow have already committed to at least 10pc SAF by 2030

By Bea O'Kelly