Bosses at Heathrow Airport on Friday said it had suffered a slow start to 2022 after 1.3 million passengers had their travel plans ruined by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, although there is hope of a summer rebound.
The London airport said many passengers either cancelled or did not book trips at all during December and January, with travel demand in January 56 per cent down on pre-coronavirus levels.
Heathrow, usually one of the world’s busiest airports, expects to be only half as busy this year as it was before the pandemic, and is banking on a booming summer holiday season to offset the sluggish start.
“After a tough Christmas, Omicron has continued to bite and this has been a weak start to the year. As short-lived as the additional travel restrictions were, they ruined the travel plans of more than 1.3 million passengers in the last two months,” said John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow.
Mr Holland-Kay welcomed the removal of restrictions for vaccinated passengers in and out of the UK on Friday and said it “offers a ray of hope” for the industry.
“But the Omicron hangover proves demand remains fragile and at risk to new variants of concern and the government needs to set out a playbook for managing future variants that allows travel and trade to keep flowing,” he said.
