Key Sentence:
- The head of Heathrow Airport warned that despite signs of a significant delay in travel requests, air traffic may not fully recover until at least 2026.
John Holland-Kay told the that Britain’s busiest airport continued to Heathrow’s Air Traffic suffer injuries despite easing international travel rules. He also responded to aviation authorities to limit the increase in fares for flights to use Heathrow. Heathrow airlines are making good returns, and investors want the same, he said.
Holland-Kay said the airport was still only seeing passenger traffic at around 45% of 2019 levels. It’s been 18 months which has been challenging, but we are starting to see a recovery,” he told Today. “Now what we to do is see stability in the travel rules so people can trust what we need to do and airlines can integrate this into their systems.”
The airport has come under fire for its long queues Heathrow’s Air Traffic and its ability to handle an increase in passengers. But he said, “We are recruiting people to make sure we can meet the demand that starts on the other side of the airport.
“Even on the busiest days of 2019, we are still around 40 to 45% of that level.
Among the vacancies, Heathrow is trying to fill security guards and engineers to help with airport maintenance. The shortage of passport control personnel causing long queues is the responsibility of the border guards, who are part of the Ministry of the Interior.
Holland-Kay said it was important for airports and their investors to raise funds to fund this return to growth. Currently, airports can charge up to £22 per passenger for the terminal, runway, baggage system, and security operations.
Holland-Kaye said, “CAA’s initial proposal was not enough to ensure investors could earn adequate returns. Which is key to securing future main investment in passenger services and airport sustainability. Center of Great Britain.”
London Airport said passenger numbers had recovered to 28% and freight to 90% pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter, despite losing £3.4 billion cumulatively since the pandemic began. Which was suffered heavy losses during the pandemic and hopes to get some cashback by upgrading its airfare.