London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has published a series of statistics & statements pertaining to performance during the first quarter of 2025.
The statistics provide an insight into performance relating to passenger demand, destination plans and overall growth.
Speaking of passenger demand for the airport, numbers during Q1 2025 have seen LHR remain level with that of 2024’s record performance, with passenger traffic of roughly 18.2 million people having travelled through the airport throughout the period.
Punctuality on all services has seen an overall increase, with more than 81% of flights leaving at their scheduled departure time, 99% of bags travelling as expected and 97% of passengers waiting under 5 minutes passing through security.
The airport also launched the first phase of its ‘refreshed’ VIP service, The Windsor, during the Q1 window, which offers guests a more personalised service.
With the launch of nine new routes by summer 2025, the airport will soon begin to offer long-haul connections to Cancun (Mexico), Ottawa (Canada) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), as well as short-haul services to Rimini (Italy), Tbilisi (Georgia) and Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
Heathrow has also stated that it has taken extensive agreement with its airline partners in order to shape its H8 business plan over 2027 to 2031, which will outline both key outcomes & values for customers. The plan is expected to be submitted to the CAA this summer following the CAA’s publishing of its final H8 methodology, which reaffirms the importance of RAB-based regulation for Heathrow’s financeability.
Work on the submission of the airport’s proposal for expansion is expected to be delivered by Ministers by summer 2025, with plans due to be entirely privately funded and, given the green light, have the new runway operational by 2035.
Over the course of the quarter, the airport’s Group has seen revenue increases of 2.1% from 808 million GBP in 2024 to 825 million GBP in 2025, which the airport attributes to additional long-haul flights, as well as improved property and retail income.
Operating costs have increased by 1.6% from 365 million GBP in 2024 to 371 million GBP in 2025, with an adjusted EBITDA increasing 2.5% from 443 million GBP in 2024 to 454 million GBP in 2025.
Overall, LHR has stated an expectation for consistent levels throughout the remainder of 2025, with passenger demand set to increase during the year.
Heathrow CFO, Sally Ding, said:2025 will be a pivotal year for Heathrow as we finalise our business plan for the next five years and submit our proposals to Government to unlock new capacity at the UK’s gateway to growth.
Our focus on steadily improving operational performance is yielding results, and our future plans will enable us to deliver better value and more growth for our customers and the country.
