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The demand to travel last month at the Heathrow airport was weaker than expected. Data from Heathrow Airport suggest that footfall was down by 56 per cent from pre-pandemic levels. This news comes as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 continues to suppress passenger confidence, the airport argued.
Recent data shows that over 1.3 million passengers cancelled or did not book their trips because of omicron restrictions in December and January.
While bookings for outbound tourism are slowly picking up, inbound tourism and business travel remain weak due to Covid-19 levels in the UK and other countries, international testing requirements and the risk of new border closures in the event of a new variant of concern.
Heathrow Chief Executive, John Holland-Kaye said, “After a tough Christmas, Omicron has continued to bite, and this has been a weak start to the year. As short-lived as the additional travel restrictions were, they ruined the travel plans of more than 1.3 million passengers in the last two months.”
He added, “The removal of restrictions for vaccinated passengers in and out of the UK offers a ray of hope, but the Omicron hangover proves demand remains fragile, and at risk to new variants of concern and government needs to set out a playbook for managing future variants that allows travel and trade to keep flowing.”
However, the airport mentioned that officials are working with airlines and ground handlers to increase resources across the airport ahead of the summer peak.
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