Figures for July, August and September saw the airport receive 28% of the passengers it had in 2019, with Heathrow predicting it will take “until at least 2026” for numbers to reach pre-pandemic levels.

In the first nine months of 2021, the airport saw only 10.2 million passengers, compared with 19 million in the same period in 2020. Losses increased from £1.38 billion to £1.5 billion, with revenue falling from £951 million to £695 million. 

The airport has £4.1 billion in cash but has lost £3.4 billion since the start of the pandemic. It again called on the CAA to allow it to raise fees to airlines, saying “our shareholders have achieved negative returns in real terms over the last 15 years” and the CAA’s proposals “do not go far enough to ensure that investors can achieve a fair return”.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “We are on the cusp of a recovery which will unleash pent-up demand, create new quality jobs and see Britain’s trade roar back to life – but it risks a hard landing unless secured for the long-haul. 

“To do that, we need continued focus on the global vaccination programme so that borders can reopen without testing; we need a fair financial settlement from the CAA to sustain service and resilience after 15 years of negative real returns for investors; and we need a progressively increasing global mandate for Sustainable Aviation Fuels so that we can protect the benefits of aviation in a world without carbon.”