Traffic and business commentary December & FY 2016

07.00 11th January 2017

Heathrow's milestone year: Record passenger numbers, award-winning service and Britain's new runway

Full-Year 2016

§ Heathrow celebrated 70 years of history as Britain's front door in 2016, welcoming a record 76 million passengers (+1%) alongside 1.5 million tonnes of cargo (+3%) travelling through the UK's hub - that's nearly three full Millennium Stadia of passengers a day and annual cargo equivalent to 118,000 London buses, 7,500 Angels of the North or nearly 30 fully-loaded Queen Elizabeth II ocean liners

§ For the second year running, Heathrow was delighted to be named as the 'Best Airport in Western Europe' by its passengers at the annual Skytrax Global Airport Awards

§ Larger, quieter and more efficient aircraft continued to be a driver for growth in passenger volumes at Heathrow. In 2016, around 40% of Heathrow's long haul passengers travelled on cleaner and quieter new generation aircraft, such as Airbus A380s, A350s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners - up from around 25% in 2015 and helping to reduce the airport's impact on local communities

§ In a major boost for the economy, the Government announced its support for a new runway at Heathrow - the first full-length runway in the south east since the second world war. The Government will begin consulting on a national policy statement early this year

December 2016

§ December passenger volumes set a new record for Heathrow, with 6.2 million passengers travelling through the airport (+4.4%) - emerging markets in the Middle East (+16.9%) and Asia (+3.2%) continued to be drivers for growth as well as strong performance on North American segments (+2.1%)

§ Cargo growth was also strong, with trade through Heathrow increasing 5.1% driven in particular by growth to emerging market destinations - Brazil up 18.6%, India up 12.1% and China up 8.3%

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said:

"Heathrow celebrated 70 years as the country's front door in 2016 and I'm proud that we were able to end this year on such a high note. Whether it was welcoming back a triumphant Team GB from Rio or giving that special Heathrow service to a record number of passengers, increasing Britain's trade with the rest of the world or securing Government support for expansion - Heathrow is Britain's airport and we will continue to help all of our country thrive for decades to come."