Heathrow: “It will take a few years before the demand for flights returns to pre-Corona levels”

London’s Heathrow Airport recorded a loss of 442 million pounds ($512 million) in January-September 2022, and warns that “it will be several years” before demand for flights returns to pre-coronavirus levels. This is reported by CNBC. In the previous two years, the port recorded a cumulative loss of 4 billion pounds.

The busiest airport in Europe predicts that the number of passengers will reach 60-62 million this year – a 25% decrease compared to 2019.

“We can be proud that we all rallied to serve passengers last summer, and are working together with the airlines and their ground crews to return to full capacity as quickly as possible,” said Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye.

The airport says that the relatively low demand is due to the war in Ukraine, the corona virus and the “global economic crisis”, but it is predicted that the number of passengers may reach the levels of 2019 during peak periods, such as before Christmas.

Heathrow’s revenues tripled in 2021, to £2.1 billion, but received headwinds from the decision Set a ceiling of 100,000 passengers per day for two months. This restriction, established following the chaos at the airport that included long lines and lost luggage, will be removed at the end of the month.

At Heathrow they say that in order to cope with the busy periods, they have to train 25 thousand additional workers. Today, the port employs about 75 thousand workers under 400 airlines, and another 7,500 direct workers of the port itself.