A recent survey reveals the number of passengers at Britain's largest airport plummeted by 73 per cent in 2020, making it the smallest annual total since 1975. An average of 22.1 million travellers passed through Heathrow last year, 59 million fewer than in 2019. December figures are slightly higher than November, as Britain came out of lockdown for a brief moment. However, the figures remain 83 per cent below previous December.
Not only passenger flights, cargo volumes for the year were down 28.2 per cent with dedicated cargo flights helping to counteract lost capacity in the belly hold of passenger planes. While Heathrow tried to cut its costs by slashing pay, mothballing two terminals and operating on a single runway for most of the year, it remains vocal on how the industry was “fighting for survival”.
Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said, “The past year has been incredibly challenging for aviation. While we support tightening border controls temporarily by introducing pre-departure testing for international arrivals as well as quarantine, this is not sustainable.” He called on the government to “show leadership” and work to create a common international standard for pre-departure testing. He added, “The aviation industry is the cornerstone of the UK economy but is fighting for survival. We need a roadmap out of this lockdown, and a full waiver of business rates.”
The update comes after easyJet announced it had secured another £1.4bn five-year loan to help shore up its finances during the pandemic. The airline said the loan would help it repay and cancel about £800m of shorter-term debt. The airline's chief executive Johan Lundgren said, “This facility will significantly extend and improve easyJet's debt maturity profile and increase the level of liquidity available. EasyJet has taken swift and decisive action, having now secure more than £4.5bn in liquidity since the beginning of the pandemic.”
