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Heathrow started the year with a 3.8% rise in passengers using the capacity-squeezed London hub.
A total of 5.4 million passengers passed through the airport in January.
Increased demand for flights to China and Mexico contributed to the rise.
BRIC passengers were up 5%, with China up 26% and Brazil up 6.8%. Mexico traffic was up 26.8% on the previous year.
Passengers per aircraft increased 2.2%, to 144.5, Heathrow reported this morning.
Seats per aircraft rose by 1.4%, while load factors were up by 0.6 percentage points on last year, to 70.6%.
Chief executive Colin Matthews said: “January’s traffic figures reflect a strong start to the year and the increasing demand for long-haul routes to emerging market destinations, such as Chengdu and Mexico City, that only a hub airport can support.”