82.4 million visitors are anticipated at the airport this year, but uncertainty over a potential £6 billion sale has cast doubt on the airport’s future
Heathrow is preparing for its busiest summer holiday season ever, but it is also facing worry over its long-term future due to the ongoing ambiguity around the proposed £6 billion sale of the largest airport in the United Kingdom. In spite of this, the airport promised on Wednesday that it expects this year’s summer vacation to be “the busiest on record” and that it will put in place “robust” procedures to guarantee that the airport runs efficiently even in the event that worker strikes, which happened last year, happen again.
The airport is expected to handle more than 82.4 million passengers this year, breaking the previous record of 80.9 million passengers in 2019. However, rumours indicate that a planned agreement to purchase the airport from the Spanish construction company Ferrovial is on hold as a result of Macquarie’s decision to forgo buying a stake, casting doubt on Heathrow’s future.
The Australian investment company, which had originally expressed interest in purchasing a 35% share, has subsequently withdrew its offer, and no other bidders have surfaced, as per a report published by The Telegraph earlier this month.
The purpose of the planned agreement was to bolster the offer for a 25% ownership in the airport made by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and the private equity company Ardian. The ownership of the airport is currently unclear, though.
The company posted a pre-tax profit of £83 million for the three months that ended in March, which is a considerable improvement over the £139 million loss it reported for the same time in 2023.
But the business insisted that in order to close a £400 million deficit that was mentioned in the most recent Civil Aviation Authority settlement over passenger charges, it had to maintain strict cost control procedures and create economies.
Heathrow Airport asked the government earlier this month to do away with a new £10 charge for foreign passengers using the airport to connect to other aircraft. The airport issued a warning, stating that this charge was having an adverse effect on passenger volume and hurting UK airports’ ability to compete with airports in Europe.
Heathrow made a similar request on Wednesday, asking government representatives to reevaluate the “anti-growth” tourism tax that imposes VAT on visitor purchases.
Heathrow is gearing up for its busiest summer yet, with more passengers and destinations served than ever before,” said Javier Echave, chief financial officer of Heathrow. We’re ready to continue providing our top-notch service.”
The Unite trade union declared earlier this week that hundreds of Heathrow employees will go on strike over an issue involving job outsourcing.
Unite declared that over eight hundred of its members would go on strike from May 7–13.
According to the union, employees in security, tram operations and passenger services—who assist travellers with connecting flights—will have their jobs outsourced by June.
In addition to guaranteeing that no jobs will be lost as a result of the operational reform, Heathrow is currently in talks with Unite about how the change will effect individuals who may be impacted.
