The London hub reported on Wednesday (26 July) that more than 37 million passengers passed through its gates during the six months to 30 June, up 42.1% on last year’s levels, while load factor went up by 6% to 77.3%. 

“The summer getaway has got off to a great start, thanks to planning and close collaboration with airlines and ground handlers,” said outgoing chief executive John Holland-Kaye, who added staffing levels had returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Heathrow was impacted by severe cancellations and delays last summer as it struggled to recruit enough staff to cope with the boom in post-Covid travel demand, and eventually put a 100,000-passenger-a-day capacity cap on operations.

And despite an increase in passenger numbers over the first half of the year, the airport said traffic remained below 2019’s 80.9 million passengers – and was likely to be impacted further by heightening cost of living pressures.

“Overall passenger numbers still remain consistently below pre-pandemic levels, and the cost of living crisis is a material headwind for second-half demand,” Heathrow said in a statement. 

The airport said it was expecting its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the whole year to be around £2 billion after halving its losses to £139 million. 

Heathrow blamed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for staying in the red after the regulator earlier this year ruled passenger charges should go down from the current £31.57 to an average of £27.49 until 2026.