London Heathrow reports record-breaking December
January 13, 2025
Post-covid recovery surely seems a thing of the past as airports around the world continue to highlight record-breaking numbers of passengers passing through their facilities. Among these, London Heathrow: having just surpassed its annual 2019 total by three million, recording an all-time-high 83.9 million passengers in 2024.
This passenger total – up 5.9% year-on-year – was accompanied by a 4.4% increase in air transport movements, reaching 43,246 for the year. The UK market saw the highest increase at 14.8%, although the North American market was notionally down at -0.2%. “On what is normally one of the quietest days for travel, Christmas Day also saw a record 160k passengers, a 13% increase on the previous record from 2023,” explained a spokesperson for the airport.
The latest milestone builds on what has been a record-breaking year for Heathrow overall, having retained its title as the busiest airport in Europe for the first half of the year (despite losing an estimated 90,000 passenger transfers through the introduction of a £10 electronic travel authorisation, or ETA, charge). In October, Heathrow also closed out its busiest summer season on record, marking a record-high day for passenger arrivals (140,500) on 2 September.
In 2025, “our journey towards better value for our customers will continue by investing in the kind of facilities our passengers and airlines are looking for,” explained Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye. The airport estimates that during 2024, 92% of passengers passed through security in less than five minutes.
Additionally, the cargo sector – bolstered by the Christmas period – also saw almost 138,000 tons of cargo passing through Heathrow in 2024, an increase of over 10% from 2023 and something the airport attributes to the its “growing long-haul network”. Over the course of the year, the African market saw the highest growth (up 22.4%), followed by North America and Asia-Pacific (up 14.7% and 14.3% respectively).
