Heathrow suffered 7.5% drop in March passengers amid 10-hour outage closure

A 7.5% drop in Heathrow passenger numbers in March was partly blamed on a 10-hour closure of there airport due to an off site power outage.

The electricity supply failure was caused by a major fire at National Grid and SSEN’s North Hyde substation.

Heathrow also cited the late Easter and the timing of Ramadan this year for last month’s fall to 6.2 million travellers.

Overall flights declined by 3% over the same month last year to 38,357. 

However, the London hub is projecting an upturn this month and in May.

Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye insisted the airport remained on course for a record year.

He said: “It’s great to see strong demand to travel through Heathrow. 

“Whilst passenger numbers were slightly down due to changing holidays this year, belly hold cargo on passenger flights was a bright spot growing 4% and underlining the importance of Heathrow as the UK’s gateway to growth. 

“We are still on track to see another record year in 2025 and colleagues are working hard preparing for a busy Easter and May bank holiday getaway.”