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The boss of Heathrow today urged David Cameron to make a decision on a third runway as the airport reported a record August.
Passengers using the west London hub rose by 4% last month to 7.33 million over August 2014. August 2 was Heathrow’s busiest day on record with 257,312 passengers handled.
The month was also a record for arrivals, with 3.75 million passengers landing at the airport.
The figures come as new polling by Populus shows that half of residents in 12 local consistencies to Heathrow support expansion, while 33% oppose.
Fifty seven percent of those residents feel positive about Heathrow, while only 8% have a negative feeling, claims the poll.
Chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said: “With more local residents supporting Heathrow than opposing it, and with the backing of the Airports Commission, airlines, trade unions and businesses across the country, Heathrow expansion is the right and deliverable solution for the whole of the UK.
“Every month that we delay is costing our economy £1 billion,” he warned. “The prime minister has a mandate to give Heathrow the green light – let’s get on with it.”
Larger, quieter, fuller aircraft continued to be a key driver for growth in August, according to Heathrow.
Seats per aircraft increased 2.3% year-on-year to an average of 209.8, while load factors increased 0.4% to an average of 84%.