An all-time record of 60.5m passengers have travelled through Heathrow so far in 2018 as the airport delivered better value and service. Passenger charges fell 1% to £21.59 whilst 82% of passengers said they had an “Excellent” or “Very Good” experience at Heathrow .
Trade flowing through Heathrow increased 1.5% to a record high of 1.3m tonnes, boosted in part by this year’s 5 new services to China.
Heathrow remains in strong financial health as revenues climbed 2.3% to £2,211 million on the back of higher demand to fly and strong retail spend – supporting an additional £555 million of investment into the airport. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 1.9% to £1,372 million. Remaining competitive as we expand continues to be a key priority, with operational charges increasing only slightly after investments to boost resilience, security and service in 2018.
Heathrow has reaffirmed its undertakings to the Prompt Payment Code to pay suppliers on time
Nearly £1.6 billion raised from global investors during 2018, recently adding a 7th currency with a debut Australian dollar issue. Attractive financing lays the groundwork for entirely privately-funded expansion and builds Heathrow’s financial resilience ahead of Brexit.
In its aim to be carbon-neutral by 2020, Heathrow launched the first in a series of peatland restoration projects. The site in Lancashire will trap nearly 23,000 tonnes of CO2 over 30 years – equivalent to nearly 64,000 passenger journeys from Heathrow to New York. The project comes as Terminal 2 became one of the first terminals in the world to be powered by 100% renewable energy.
Progress continues in delivering expansion. Initial ground surveys of surrounding land began in September. With two further public consultations set for January and June 2019, Heathrow remains on-track to submit a planning application in 2020 and for the first flights to use the new runway in 2026.
With the outcome of Brexit negotiations unknown, strong businesses like Heathrow must stand up to support Britain's economy. We will expand Heathrow to boost Britain's global trade for decades to come, and we are proud to protect Britain's SMEs by maintaining our 30-day payment terms for all of our suppliers. No matter how small, suppliers should have confidence that they will be paid on-time for their services, and we call on other businesses to follow our lead.
