London Heathrow Airport has achieved a record-breaking year, handling more travellers in 2024 than ever before.
Officials revealed that the final passenger total exceeded its pre-pandemic peak of 80.9 million in 2019 and outpaced 2023’s tally by 5.9 per cent, reaching just over 84 million travellers.
A buoyant December, with more than 7 million passengers—5.6 per cent higher than the same period in 2023—helped the airport surpass its previous records. Popular destinations in 2024 included New York, Los Angeles, Dublin and Madrid, while domestic UK flights registered a 10 per cent year-on-year surge to 4.66 million.
EU routes drew the highest passenger numbers at 28.1 million, a 7.4 per cent climb on 2023. Traffic to North America reached 20.6 million (up 3.3 per cent), and Asia-Pacific saw robust growth of 9.9 per cent to total 10.7 million. Africa was the only region to post a decline, with a 7.8 per cent fall to 3.3 million passengers.
Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow’s chief executive, described 2024 as “an exciting and a record-breaking year”, thanking staff and partners for helping to serve more passengers than ever. Looking ahead, he said the airport would continue investing in facilities and adopting innovative solutions to enhance its service for airlines and travellers.
Already forecasting 84.2 million passengers for 2025—a marginal 0.4 per cent year-on-year increase—Heathrow officials say the new year has started strongly. The airport’s long-term goal is to improve connectivity and deliver greater value for both passengers and the broader UK economy.