Last year’s Heathrow passenger numbers worst for half a century

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Britain’s busiest airport handled fewer passengers in 2021 than it did in 2020 – failing to reach even one-quarter of its pre-pandemic numbers. But the appearance of the Omicron variant – and the travel restrictions imposed in the UK and elsewhere – caused an estimated 20,000 cancellations per day last month. The airport’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said: “There are currently travel restrictions, such as testing, on all Heathrow routes – the aviation industry will only fully recover when these are all lifted and there is no risk that they will be reimposed at short notice, a situation which is likely to be years away.” When the additional restrictions were lifted, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, tweeted: “By reducing testing requirements for fully vaxxed passengers to just a lateral flow post-arrival, we're supporting the safe reopening of international travel. “We'll do a full review of travel measures by the end of Jan to ensure a stable system is in place for 2022.” During 2021, domestic flying to and from Heathrow increased by 21 per cent compared with a year earlier, but all international links saw falls in passenger numbers.