A warning that airports in France and Germany are overtaking Heathrow came today as the London hub reported a decline in annual profits.
The airport’s 2017 pre-tax profit fell by almost 19% year-on-year to £217 million despite the airport growing at its fastest rate in five years.
This resulted in a record 78 million passengers using Heathrow, a rise of 3.1% over 2016 levels.
Its growth enabled Heathrow to retain its position as Europe’s top-rated major airport for the third year running.
But CEO John Holland-Kaye said today: “While we are squeezing out small bits of growth, our rivals in France and Germany are overtaking us – for Britain to thrive post-Brexit, the government needs to crack on with Heathrow expansion as quickly as possible with a vote in Parliament before the summer.”
The airport claimed that “significant progress” had been made on expanding Heathrow, with the first planning consultation underway, a shortlist of logistics hubs around the UK to help build it, the government committing to a vote in Parliament this summer and the Civil Aviation Authority progressing the expansion regulatory framework.
The annual results came just days after the bosses of leading airlines called on the government to force Heathrow to promise not to raise passenger charges before approving plans to build a third runway.
Heathrow claimed a strong financial performance for 2017 underpinned its expansion plans, with revenues of £2.9 billion up 2.7%.
Adjusted earnings [EBITDA] rose by 4.6% to £1.7 billion reflecting lower operating costs and strong retail growth while passenger charges declined by 2%.
Holland-Kaye said: “Heathrow had a fantastic 2017 – welcoming a record 78 million passengers, giving our best service ever and offering better value for our passengers with lower airport charges.”