London Heathrow Airport said that May 2022 was the busiest month since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2022, a total of 5.3 million passengers traveled through the UK’s busiest airport, compared to 5 million passengers the previous month. The passenger numbers are in line with the airport’s revised yearly passenger traffic forecast.
Currently, Heathrow forecasts that a total of 53 million passengers will travel through the airport in 2022. The airport said previously that it expected passenger traffic to reach 45.5 million in 2022.
“We continue to make good progress with our plans to ramp up capacity and are working closely with airlines and government to keep supply and demand in balance as we grow, so that passengers can travel through Heathrow this summer with confidence,” Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye said.
In addition, the airport reopened its Terminal 4 on June 14, 2022, two years after it was closed due to decreased passenger traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Qatar Airways is the first carrier to return to Terminal 4, and will be followed by 30 other airlines.
The reopening of Terminal 4 will free up space in Heathrow’s T1, T2 and T5 ahead of peak months. The airport management is also recruiting 1,000 new security personnel as part of a plan to maintain smooth passenger service throughout the summer.
For the past few weeks, UK’s busiest airports, including Heathrow, have been facing long queues as well as numerous flight cancellations and delays due to staff shortages.