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London’s Heathrow airport has forecast its busiest ever festive period, with a jump in passengers travelling on Christmas Day set to cap a record-breaking year of travel for the UK’s largest airport.
On Wednesday, the airport said it was expecting a record number of travellers to pass through it in December, and a 21 per cent rise in passenger volumes on Christmas Day. That would follow a record-breaking November, when 6.5mn people used the airport hub.
The update comes after Heathrow, which is expecting 25 of its routes to reach 1mn passengers this year, said last month it was on track to break its pre-pandemic travel record, thanks to soaring demand over the summer.
A busy festive season would cap a strong year for the aviation industry, with airlines across Europe reporting strong summers, even as ticket prices fell slightly following two years of rising fares.
Industry bosses believe the post-pandemic travel boom has faded, but demand for flights remains high as customers prioritise spending on travel despite tough economic conditions.
United Airlines on Tuesday said it was expecting its busiest holiday period, forecasting 9.9mn passengers between December 19 and January 6, an increase of 12 per cent year on year.
The US airline last month said customers were taking more trips to Europe over the festive period, with bookings to European destinations up nearly 30 per cent compared with 2019 and up 10 per cent year on year.
The airline said European Christmas markets were luring an increasing number of American travellers, adding it planned to offer nearly 60 nonstop flights each day from its US hubs to Europe in November and December, more than any other US airline.
Separately, on Wednesday, Europe’s largest tour operator Tui said winter bookings were up 4 per cent from last year, driven by demand for short and medium-haul destinations such as the Canaries, Egypt and Cape Verde. Thailand, Mexico and the Dominican Republic are key long-haul destinations for the winter, it added.
Consumers are opting for package holidays to help control costs amid inflationary pressures. Last week, online travel agent On the Beach said bookings for winter were at record levels and up 25 per cent year on year, driven by Britons seeking cheap sunny destinations such as north Africa.
Heathrow, its airlines and suppliers will be under pressure to avoid disruption over the busy period, after air traffic control delays marred the reliability of British Airways, in particular, over the summer.
But even the busiest festive days are typically far quieter than the peak summer months, meaning disruption is less likely.
“This year has been all about providing high levels of service for record amounts of passengers at Heathrow,” said Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow’s chief executive.