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‘A front door for Britain’: Profits up at Heathrow as runway expansion plans remain undecided

As the controversial campaign for a runway expansion continues, Heathrow has reported an increase in traffic of 2% to 16.4 million passengers for Q1.

The airport’s parent company saw a pre-tax profit of £71m, compared to a loss of £10m for the same period last year.

Heathrow has laid out plans for a runway expansion to support its ongoing growth, but many residents and politicians have rejected the proposal based on noise pollution levels. Heathrow has offered to spend £700m on an ‘insulation offer’ in an attempt to appease opposition.

In addition, the average load factor rose to 71.2% from 70.7% whilst the average number of seats per passenger aircraft increased to 206.8 from 203.2.

In its financial results, Heathrow calls the expansion ‘crucial’ saying ‘Britain cannot afford to fall further behind in its global connectivity, especially with the scale of economic value that could be generated.’

John Holland-Kaye, chief executive officer of Heathrow, said: “Heathrow is a fantastic airport and a great front door for Britain. We’re a business that’s delivering an unrivalled passenger experience in western Europe, we’ve got over 30 airlines knocking on our door waiting to serve the UK’s hub, our world-class shareholders are lined up to privately fund expansion and with an additional runway we will create 40,000 new skilled and well-paid jobs for the local community.

We are ready to deliver the only runway that can connect all of Britain to global growth. All we need is a quick decision, so let’s get on with it.“

City Airport London has also face difficulties with its proposed expansion, as the Mayor of London vetoed plans last month for the same reason of noise pollution.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .