Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Heathrow Airport tells UK to open up travel

Heathrow Airport tells UK to open up travel

LONDON'S Heathrow Airport urged Britain to open up travel to vaccinated passengers after its recovery fell behind hubs elsewhere in Europe, pushing its cumulative pandemic losses to £290 billion.

Heathrow, which before the pandemic was Europe's busiest airport, said Britain's travel restrictions were suppressing trade volumes and traveller demand, and government action was needed quickly or jobs would be lost.


Passenger levels at Heathrow were about 20-25 per cent of their pre-pandemic levels, while European airports are already back to about 50 per cent, said Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye.

"Without the passenger planes going to global markets like the US, UK exports aren't getting out of the country, and the UK will fall behind and that will cost jobs, unless we open up," he told Reuters on Monday (25).

Heathrow wants Britain to allow fully vaccinated people from the United States and the European Union to be able to travel into Britain without needing to quarantine for 10 days, and says that level of opening up would help fuel a stronger recovery.

"Europeans have already opened up unilaterally with the United States, and got the benefits of doing it. There's no reason why the UK shouldn't do the same," he said, adding he believed it could happen as soon as this week.

For the whole of 2021, Heathrow forecast 21.5 million passengers would travel through its terminals, a big jump from 4 million in the first six months of the year as restrictions ease and travel demand grows, but a long way off the 81 million who used its facilities in 2019.

Holland-Kaye said he was encouraged by a recent pickup as school holidays started. Separately Ryanair said it was seeing strong summer bookings.

Yet high levels of Covid-19 cases in the UK and the government's track record of ultra-cautious rules for travel - and last-minute changes to quarantine requirements - mean uncertainty continues to plague the travel sector.

Heathrow said worries over bringing in new restrictions or other countries barring UK travellers, had pushed it to seek a waiver of its Heathrow Finance ICR covenant for 2021 to cover it in case passenger numbers significantly miss its 21 million forecast.

For the six months to June 30, Heathrow posted an adjusted loss before tax of £787 million ($1.1 billion), compared with a 471 million loss for the same period last year which was only half affected by the pandemic.

(Reuters)

More For You

F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at The British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London on June 26, 2025. (Photo by EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he was wrong to warn that Britain could become an "island of strangers" due to high immigration, saying he "deeply" regrets the controversial phrase.

Speaking to The Observer, Sir Keir said he would not have used those words if he had known they would be seen as echoing the language of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

Sir Sajid Javid (Photo by Tom Nicholson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

A cross-party group has been formed to tackle the deep divisions that sparked last summer's riots across England. The new commission will be led by former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid and ex-Labour MP Jon Cruddas.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion has backing from both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. It brings together 19 experts from different political parties and walks of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Masum

Masum was seen on CCTV trying to steer the pram away and, when she refused to go with him, stabbed her multiple times before walking away and boarding a bus. (Photo: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Habibur Masum convicted of murdering estranged wife in front of baby

A MAN who stabbed his estranged wife to death in Bradford in front of their baby has been convicted of murder.

Habibur Masum, 26, attacked 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter in broad daylight on April 6, 2024, stabbing her more than 25 times while she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram. The baby was not harmed.

Keep ReadingShow less