Heathrow hits busiest day of year in July with 267,000 passengers

Heathrow had its busiest day of the year on July 19, handling 267,000 passengers as schools broke up for summer.

More than 7.85 million people used the London hub with the start of the peak holiday period last month – down 1.5% year on year as travel to the Middle East slumped by more than 20% and North America saw a fall of 3%.

Popular destinations included Italy and Spain, while Switzerland, Cyprus and the Czech Republic also saw “healthy growth”.

The airport reported that 98.5% of passengers waited less than five minutes at security.

New airlines including ITA Airways, Alaska Airlines and Riyadh Air carried more than 136,000 passengers last month.

“However, Heathrow is operating at capacity,” the airport noted.

“The case for expansion has never been clearer, as Heathrow was overtaken in July by Istanbul airport as the busiest hub in Europe.

“Our plans will ensure the country gets the infrastructure it needs to stay competitive and will deliver all-important economic growth.”

Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: "Summer is off to a flying start at Heathrow. Together with our airlines and Team Heathrow partners we’ve achieved our busiest day of the year so far and ensured millions of passengers have gotten away smoothly on their well-deserved holidays.

“Preparing for summer has been months in the planning, we understand how critical our role is in providing a seamless passenger experience and we’re committed to delivering throughout the summer peak.

“We want to go further, growing our route network and passenger offering. Expanding Heathrow will help ensure the UK remains home to Europe’s leading hub and continues to benefit from the trade, investment and tourism that increased connectivity will bring."