A record 5.6 million passengers used Heathrow in December, up 2% on the same month in 2011.
This took annual passenger numbers for 2012 up to almost 70 million, an increase of 0.9% over the previous year.
North Atlantic traffic led the way with a rise of 3.2% during the year.
Strength in services with Brazil, up 21.6% due to more flights, the Middle East and central Asia, up 3.4% due partially to recovery in key markets from the unrest in the region that impacted 2011, and East Asia, up 6.2% due partly to recovery from 2011’s Japanese tsunami was offset particularly by weakness in African and Indian traffic, down 5.7% and 3.4% respectively, due to airlines reducing or ceasing services.
European traffic saw more modest growth at 0.5%. But there were “significant variances” reflecting economic conditions, with Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain seeing a collective passenger reduction of 4.5%.
Greece suffered the largest reduction (-7.3%) followed by Italy (-6.8%).
Offsetting this, traffic to Germany increased by 2.3% and France’s traffic rose by 0.6%.
Domestic traffic was up slightly, by 0.5%.
The Bric economies performed well throughout 2012, collectively up 2.4%. Of these, Brazil saw the biggest increase, followed by China, which saw passenger numbers rise 5.9%, whilst Russia had a 4.5% increase in passenger numbers.
Traffic in 2012 was characterised by higher load factors at 75.6%, versus 75.2% in 2011. There were also more seats per aircraft (197.4 against 194.8 in 2011).
The airport operator said: “These are the key drivers of the modest growth that can be expected in Heathrow’s traffic as long as it operates within its current capacity constraints – illustrated by the fact that the 471,341 flights Heathrow operated in 2012 remain close to the cap of 480,000 per year.”
December saw European traffic rise by 4% compared with a year earlier, while North Atlantic traffic was up 0.6%. Middle East and Central Asia traffic grew 3.9%, while East Asia recorded 14.8% growth, boosted by route changes.
Traffic to and from Spain was down 9.4% on the same month last year and down 4.2% for Greece. Numbers rose 7.4% for Italy and 7.9% for Portugal. The Nordic countries performed strongly, with Norway up 26.8%, Finland up 7.2% and Sweden up 6.0%.
Of the Bric economies, China saw the biggest increase on last December (23.2%), followed by India (4.0%), and Russia (3.4%). Only Brazil saw a reduction, down 3.1% on December 2011.
Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews said: “The figures for 2012 show Heathrow is delivering higher passenger numbers despite a tough economic climate. At the same time passenger satisfaction reached record levels.
“Over the next 12 months we will continue to improve the passenger experience and focus on our investment programme, as we move towards completion of the new Terminal 2.”