Passenger numbers soar at Heathrow

(Sharecast News) - Heathrow posted an historic surge in passenger numbers on Wednesday, but warned that current government policies were "curtailing" the UK's competitiveness.

A record 18.5m people travelled through Heathrow in the first three months of the year, a near 10% jump on the previous year.

The first quarter is traditionally a quiet period for the airport. However, Heathrow said passenger numbers had benefited from growth on key business routes like Delhi and Mumbai as well as strong North American traffic.

East Asian demand also jumped, up 40% year-on-year.

As a result, Heathrow increased its full-year outlook to 82.4m passengers, boosted by what it predicted would be the busiest-ever summer getaway.

However, it also warned that current government policy was "curtailing the UK's growth and competitiveness". It urged ministers to rethink "anti-growth policies" such as travel visas for transiting passengers and to bring back VAT-free spending for overseas visitors.

It continued: "A supportive policy environment for aviation would deliver a much-needed economic boost by encouraging people to visit, spend and do business here in the UK."

Revenues eased nearly 1% to £808m, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 9% at £443m. Adjusted pre-tax profits came in at £83m, compared to losses of £139m a year previously.

Heathrow said: "We have strong liquidity of £3.8bn and our focus remains on delivering excellent service to our customers while maintaining strong cost control and delivering efficiencies to close the £400m gap in the H7 settlement set by the CAA."

The update came a day after Unite confirmed that nearly 800 Heathrow workers had voted to strike between 7 and 13 May. The union is opposed to plans by Heathrow to outsource hundreds of roles.