The UK’s hub airport said passenger numbers in January were 56% down on pre-Covid levels, with more than 1.3 million travellers cancelling or deciding not to book trips in December and January, as new travel rules were imposed to try to stop Omicron spreading.

Although bookings have started rebounding, Heathrow said it still expected to only get back to around 50% of pre-pandemic traffic levels during 2022, with the hope that strong summer demand will offset a weaker start to the year.

Heathrow’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye added: “After a tough Christmas, Omicron has continued to bite, and this has been a weak start to the year. 

“As short-lived as the additional travel restrictions were, they ruined the travel plans of more than 1.3 million passengers in the last two months.

“Today’s removal of restrictions for vaccinated passengers in and out of the UK offers a ray of hope, but the Omicron hangover proves demand remains fragile and at risk to new variants of concern, and government needs to set out a playbook for managing future variants that allows travel and trade to keep flowing.”