The largest airport in Europe by passenger numbers, London’s Heathrow, isn’t expecting to return into profit this financial 12 months.
Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Getty Images
LONDON — Europe’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, gave a downbeat assessment of the industry on Tuesday, saying the “demand outlook stays uncertain” as economic turbulence, a recent wave of Covid-19 and the escalating crisis in Ukraine could cause disruption to the barely-recovered aviation sector.
The sector experienced unprecedented chaos each in the course of the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and in its aftermath.
“While we face many economic headwinds, in addition to the legacy of Covid, our aim is to get back to full capability and the world class service people should expect from the U.K.’s hub airport as soon as possible,” Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kay said in a press release.
Europe’s biggest airport by passenger numbers announced on July 12 that it could impose a cap of 100,000 each day departing passengers because the industry continued to face a number of challenges — the airport had sought to chop down queues, cancellations and baggage delays.
Heathrow said Tuesday that it could finally be lifting that each day passenger cap at the top of October. It also said it was not expecting to return into profit this financial 12 months but a spokesperson described the balance sheet and liquidity to CNBC as “strong.”
Peak days on this 12 months’s Christmas period are still expected to be busy, the statement Thursday said. Almost 5.8 million passengers traveled through the airport in September, which is 15% below 2019 levels.
Holland-Kaye said in a July press release that the aviation sector had been “deeply scarred” by Covid.
