Heathrow Business and traffic commentary March 2018 (7935K)

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RNS Number : 7935K

Heathrow

13 April 2018

07.00 13(th) April 2018

Heathrow has busiest ever departures day with more passengers travelling to emerging markets

-- Heathrow welcomes its 17(th) consecutive record month, with 6.5 million passengers in March (up 5.5% yoy)

-- Easter getaway, coupled with half term, led to the airport having its busiest departures day ever, with over 136,000 departing passengers travelling on the 30(th)

-- Long-haul, emerging destinations were some of the best performers, as the airport reported double-digit growth in African (12%) and Middle Eastern markets (11%). Latin America also experienced significant growth, up 7.3%

-- Cargo volumes increased by 1.5%, with the airport reporting the 20th consecutive record month. During the course of the month, over 150,000 tonnes of cargo travelled through the UK's biggest port

-- The USA (1,659t) and Japan (682t) were among the fastest growing markets for cargo

-- March was also an award-winning month, as Heathrow's Terminal 2 beat international counterparts to win 'World's Best Airport Terminal' for the first time in the 2018 Skytrax World Airport Awards

-- New routes launched by Hainan Airlines and Tianjin Airlines provided the UK's first direct connections to the growing cities of Changsha and X'ian. Qantas also began its first direct service to Perth from Heathrow - offering the fastest route to Australia for both UK cargo and passengers

-- The Transport Select Committee announced the backing of the northwest runway at Heathrow, believing this remains the right answer for the UK and laying the groundwork for the parliamentary vote in the summer

-- Heathrow expansion reached another significant milestone with the close of one of the UK's largest ever public consultations

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said:

"The booming growth in passenger numbers and cargo, particularly from emerging markets, underpins the urgency to secure Britain's economic future with a third runway at Heathrow - which has now been backed by the cross-party Transport Select Committee. We are delighted that passengers have rated us one of the top ten airports worldwide, recognising the huge improvements in service we have made over the last few years"

 
 Traffic Summary 
 
 March 2018 
 
                                                                                              Apr 
                                                                 Jan                         2017 
                                                                  to                           to 
 Terminal Passengers                                             Mar                          Mar 
  (000s)                          Month   % Change              2018   % Change              2018   % Change 
 Heathrow                         6,493        5.5            17,689        3.1           78,516         3.2 
=====================  ================  =========  ================  =========  ================  ========= 
 
 
                                                                                              Apr 
                                                                 Jan                         2017 
                                                                  to                           to 
 Air Transport                                                   Mar                          Mar 
  Movements                       Month   % Change              2018   % Change              2018   % Change 
 Heathrow                       39,109        -0.8           112,314        0.8          474,941         0.6 
=====================  ================  =========  ================  =========  ================  ========= 
 
 
                                                                                              Apr 
                                                                 Jan                         2017 
                                                                  to                           to 
 Cargo                                                           Mar                          Mar 
  (Metric Tonnes)                 Month   % Change              2018   % Change              2018   % Change 
 Heathrow                      150,565         1.5           416,734        4.3       1,715,708          9.4 
=====================  ================  =========  ================  =========  ================  ========= 
 
 
 Market comparison                                                                            Apr 
  (000s)                                                         Jan                         2017 
                                                                  to                           to 
                                                                 Mar                          Mar 
                                  Month   % Change              2018   % Change              2018   % Change 
 Market 
=====================  ================  =========  ================  =========  ================  ========= 
 UK                                 391       -1.5             1,098        2.7             4,831        3.6 
 Europe                           2,651        4.2             7,115        2.5           32,661         2.5 
 Africa                             286       12.3               823        6.5             3,220        2.4 
 North America                    1,420        6.5             3,643        2.3           17,438         1.8 
 Latin America                      111        7.3               326        6.9             1,315        6.9 
 Middle East                        671       10.9             1,869        3.6             7,688        7.2 
 Asia / Pacific                     964        4.9             2,815        3.9           11,364         4.7 
 Total                            6,493        5.5           17,689         3.1           78,516         3.2 
---------------------  ----------------  ---------  ----------------  ---------  ----------------  --------- 
 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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April 13, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)