Big league aviation: Is Heathrow worried about slipping down the table?

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. The apparently fading fortunes of LHR can be ascribed to all kinds of factors, such as: The most severe international travel restrictions in Europe were imposed by the UK for much of the two years from mid-March 2020 Heathrow is still wounded from its exposure to Asian and US markets that are still, respectively, largely closed and only recently opened Could high charges be keeping out operators who might want to exploit the temporary availability of slots? But Heathrow would rank much higher on the table had its main customer, British Airways, not decided to cut around 15,000 flights promised during the summer season to align its schedule with available resources. Had they all come to take off, I calculate Heathrow would leapfrog the French and German hubs and be challenging Dutch airports for the title of Europe’s busiest. With the higher average passenger numbers on board Heathrow flights, it would regain primacy among European airports.