Heathrow 2016 figures show a spike in profits, described by the airport’s Chief Executive as a “milestone.”
Heathrow recorded a £2.81bn turnover for 2016, an increase of 1.5 per cent on the £2.77bn from 2015. A total 75.7 million passengers used the airport throughout the year, a 1% increase from the previous year, while seats per passenger aircraft rose by 1.3 per cent. However, average load factor dropped to 76 per cent, against the previous year’s 76.5
The airport dropped passenger charges by one per cent, retaining top position as the best hub in Europe for the third year in a row.
Chief executive, John Holland-Kaye said:"2016 was a milestone year for Heathrow. I am very proud of what our 76,000 colleagues have achieved.
“We gave better service at lower cost to a record number of passengers and helped British businesses across the country trade more with the rest of the world.
"We've seen them spending more while they're here. Sales per passenger in our stores and car parks are up 7% and part of that are people taking advantage of exchange rates in the UK.
"We have started the planning process for expansion and are preparing the skills and the supply chain we will need to build it sustainably and affordably. Heathrow is delivering for Britain."
Heathrow beat Gatwick in battle for expansion in October 2016 and these are the first figures released since then. The new runway has hit several roadblocks, mainly concerning negative environmental impacts such as carbon emissions and aircraft noise.
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has called on ministers to reduce the environmental impacts of the expansion.