London Heathrow Airport (LHR) broke passenger records in July 2024 and maintained its position as Europe’s busiest airport in the first half of the year.
In July 2024, a total of 7.9 million passengers travelled through London Heathrow Airport. Six of the busiest departure days ever fell on July 22, 2024, when schools went on summer vacation.
The airport stated that it had never handled more than 1.8 million passengers per week before July 2024. This figure has now been reached for three weeks in a row from July 8 to 28, 2024.
According to July 2024 data, Heathrow ranks ahead of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Madrid International Airport (MAD) and Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) in terms of passenger numbers.
The following cities were the most popular destinations for passengers departing from Heathrow:
- Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE)
- Larnaca International Airport (LCA)
- Doha International Airport (DOH)
- Dublin Airport (DUB)
- Dubai International Airport (DXB)
- New York John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK)
There were also large increases in traffic for the following US destinations:
- Orlando International Airport (MCO)
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Boston Airport (BOS)
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Lost passengers due to ETA fee
Despite July’s record success, Heathrow said it had lost 90,000 passengers since the introduction of the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system in 2023, which charges a £10 fee.
ETAs were introduced in November 2023 for people entering or transiting through the UK without legal residency or a visa.
An ETA is required for nationals of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
“This is devastating for the competitiveness of our hub. We are calling on the Government to review the inclusion of transit passengers. Every bit of increased competitiveness the Government can create for aviation will help deliver vital growth to the wider UK economy,” LHR Heathrow said in a statement.
“The performance of the British team in Paris was an inspiration to the nation and to Team Heathrow. We broke passenger records almost every day in July and we are pursuing our never-before-achieved target of handling 8 million passengers in a single month,” Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said in a statement.
“I am proud that despite some potential challenges that could have tripped us up, our team stayed focused on their goal of making each trip better and made a medal-winning start to the summer vacation,” added Woldbye.
