Major airports across the UK, including the country’s biggest, are preparing for the busiest Christmas on record — as many smash monthly passenger records in November
Major airports in the UK are preparing for the busiest Christmas period they have ever seen.
Heathrow and Manchester Airports are preparing for their busiest Christmas periods on record, after breaking monthly records.
Heathrow Airport is expecting its busiest December ever, as on Christmas Day the airport expects the number of passengers to increase by 21 per cent, in comparison to 2023.
Several routes including Singapore, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Abu Dhabi, Chicago, Zurich, Mumbai and Paris have also joined the ‘Millionaire Club’ in November, which means they have surpassed a million passengers travelling on those routes so far in 2024. Heathrow says it is on target to have 25 routes hit a million passengers this year, up from 24 last year.
News of a busy December for the airport follows Heathrow serving over 6.5 million passengers last month, making it the highest ever November.
Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said: “This year has been all about providing high levels of service for record amounts of passengers at Heathrow, and November was no different.
“As we embrace the festive season, our focus remains on ensuring smooth, joyful journeys—whether it is helping passengers get away for Christmas to reunite with their loved ones, or making sure cargo reaches its destination on time. Make sure to look out for our exciting seasonal surprises throughout the terminals, as we aim to make this holiday season magical for those travelling through Heathrow.”
Manchester Airport also smashed its November record by 13 per cent, with 2.1 million passengers flying from the airport across the month.
The airport is also gearing up for a busy Christmas period with 1.1 million passengers expected in two weeks over Christmas and New Year. The number also includes 25,000 passengers heading to Lapland.
Manchester Airport managing director, Chris Woodroofe said: “Christmas is a magical time here at Manchester Airport. We’re always proud to connect the North to the world but the importance of that role really shines through at this time of year. It feels wonderful when you see travellers having emotional reunions in arrivals and families in departures getting ready to visit Father Christmas in Lapland.
“It’s also always a popular time to fly and, having broken our passenger records every month for well over a year now, we expect this Christmas to be the biggest and busiest we’ve ever seen with over a million passengers flying in the two-week festive period.”
In addition, London Stansted Airport recorded its busiest ever November with 2.14 million passengers travelling across the month. This was an 8.3 per cent increase from the same period in 2023, and surpassed the previous November record set in 2018, by more than 152,000.
Looking ahead, the airport is preparing for a very busy Christmas period, with more than 1.3 million passengers expected to travel between December 20 and January 5.
Nick Millar, London Stansted’s operations director, said: “November was another very busy month for London Stansted with record numbers of passengers passing through the airport, reflecting the continued strength of our route network and the reliability of the simple and seamless service we offer which we know our passengers really value.
“We expect this strong passenger demand to continue in the run up to Christmas and over festive period when we are set to welcome more than 1.3 million people heading off on their holidays and winter breaks or choosing Stansted as their gateway to the UK for the festivities.
“Our operational plans are now in place and our teams will be working hard to make sure every passenger has the best experience possible while travelling through the airport over the holidays.”