Heathrow May business and traffic commentary - REPLACEMENT (7715B)

TIDM88BX TIDM10FX

RNS Number : 7715B

Heathrow

14 June 2021

The following amendment has been made to the tables announcement released on (11 June 2021) at (13:07 pm) under RNS No 6804B.

REVISED TABLES.

All other details remain unchanged.

This replaces the earlier announcement.

Heathrow CEO: Ministers need a Plan B for Britain's aviation sector if it remains grounded

-- Heathrow has faced 15 consecutive months of supressed demand, with May's passenger numbers languishing at 90% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels - a loss of over 6 million passengers in the month.

-- One month after Government hailed the restart of international travel and assured the public that a risk-based traffic light system would unlock low-risk travel, the system has yet to achieve what it was designed to do. Ministers' refusal to provide transparency on the data behind the decision making and failure to introduce a green 'watchlist' has undermined consumer confidence. At the next review on June 28(th) , the Government must rely on the science and restart travel to low-risk countries like the US, clear a pathway to restriction-free travel for vaccinated passengers and replace expensive PCR tests with lateral flow for low-risk arrivals.

-- With Ministers now promising to prioritise the domestic unlock and no clear end date to travel restrictions, a bespoke support plan for the beleaguered and neglected travel industry must be forthcoming. The sector employs tens of thousands of people across Britain who will be wondering what will happen to their jobs and livelihoods after another lost summer. The Government should provide targeted compensation to the sector, starting with business rates relief and an extension to the furlough scheme whilst Ministers continue to keep travel locked down.

-- Reopening transatlantic travel is critical to the UK and US and we welcome the establishment of the joint travel taskforce. Earlier this week the CEOs of American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic and Heathrow Airport joined forces to stress the need to safely reopen the transatlantic corridor. CEBR research shows that Heathrow's US passengers accounted for over GBP3bn pounds of spend across the UK in 2019. Pre-pandemic Britain was the top destination for US tourists, but this leadership position is at risk of being snapped up and our Global Britain ambitions undermined by France and Italy, who are already set to open their doors to vaccinated American travellers in the coming weeks.

-- G7 leaders must seize the opportunity to join forces and tackle one of the biggest challenges facing our generation, climate change. Major carriers within G7 states have committed to net-zero flying by 2050, however we can only achieve this goal by rapidly scaling up the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs). The technology exists - Heathrow took its first delivery of SAF last week - but we need the right Government policies to build confidence in demand. We are calling on world leaders to collectively commit to escalating mandates of 10% SAF use by 2030, growing to at least 50% by 2050 and price incentive mechanisms similar to those that have kick started other low carbon sectors. The G7 should take a global lead in committing to net-zero aviation, agree to at least 10% SAF in its communique, and build a global coalition for those who back that ambition.

Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye said: "With the G7 starting today, ministers have a chance to kickstart the green global recovery by agreeing how to resume international travel safely and setting a mandate for sustainable aviation fuels that will decarbonise aviation. This is the time for them to show global leadership."

 
 Traffic Summary 
 
 May 2021 
 
 Terminal Passengers                                        Jan to                     Jun 2020 
  (000s)                                                       May                           to 
                               May 2021      % Change         2021   % Change          May 2021   % Change 
 Market 
=========================  ===============  =========  ===========  =========  ================  ========= 
 UK                                  100          88%      328           -65%               853       -78% 
 EU                                  258          64%      876           -82%            4,188        -81% 
 Non-EU Europe                         54         80%      234           -79%               919       -80% 
 Africa                                54         85%      299           -63%               646       -77% 
 North America                         88         64%      332           -90%               919       -94% 
 Latin America                           9        59%       36           -88%               154       -86% 
 Middle East                           49         38%      341           -80%            1,119        -83% 
 Asia / Pacific                        63         38%      445           -80%            1,122        -88% 
 Total                               675         196%        2,891       -81%            9,920        -85% 
-------------------------  ---------------  ---------  -----------  ---------  ----------------  --------- 
 
 
 Air Transport Movements                                  Jan to                   Jun 2020 
                                                            May                        to 
                               May 2021      % Change      2021      % Change       May 2021      % Change 
 Market 
=========================  ===============  =========  ===========  =========  ================  ========= 
 UK                               1,122         81%       4,015         -57%         9,899           -71% 
 EU                               3,386         58%       12,058        -73%        49,809           -70% 
 Non-EU Europe                       693        61%       2,908         -71%         9,812           -72% 
 Africa                              553        54%       2,851         -27%         6,422           -49% 
 North America                    2,526         39%       11,301        -44%        25,704           -63% 
 Latin America                       144        48%        561          -63%         2,013           -60% 
 Middle East                      1,149         19%       5,647         -33%        13,844           -48% 
 Asia / Pacific                   1,614         -1%       8,501         -30%        20,876           -47% 
 Blanks                                28      -332% 
 Total                          11,215            73%      47,842        -57%        138,379          -65% 
-------------------------  ---------------  ---------  -----------  ---------  ----------------  --------- 
 
 
                                                          Jan to                   Jun 2020 
 Cargo                                                      May                        to 
  (Metric Tonnes)              May 2021      % Change      2021      % Change       May 2021      % Change 
 Market 
=========================  ===============  =========  ===========  =========  ================  ========= 
 UK                                    19      -206%        82           -73%         123            -84% 
 EU                             11,063          58%       50,528          88%       99,735           22% 
 Non-EU Europe                    5,846         51%       28,355         117%       61,410           32% 
 Africa                           6,105         25%       35,259          32%       77,924           -2% 
 North America                  41,406          39%      186,698           7%       399,247          -19% 
 Latin America                    1,723         43%       6,107          -51%       27,396           -37% 
 Middle East                    19,784          20%       91,316           9%       219,814          -8% 
 Asia / Pacific                 31,108          22%      150,751          19%       343,207          -12% 
 Total                        117,054             45%    549,095          18%     1,228,855           -11% 
-------------------------  ---------------  ---------  -----------  ---------  ----------------  --------- 
 

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June 14, 2021 03:12 ET (07:12 GMT)