London’s Heathrow expects smaller growth during 2025, citing constrained capacity, as the airport continues to push for further expansion.
Britain's biggest airport said that “more flying and larger aircraft” will help drive growth at the airport during the year but noted that current capacity means that there will likely be a smaller uptick in the airport's annual performance.
Heathrow reiterated its announcement regarding a third runway that was made earlier this month, stating that it will be submitting proposals to build a third runway to the UK government this summer. “Securing future economic growth means investing in the infrastructure that powers it,” said Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Heathrow.
In results published on February 26, 2025, the London airport posted annual traffic figures of 83.9 million. This represents an increase of 6%, in comparison to the year prior.
Despite 6% growth in traffic, Heathrow’s total revenue during 2024 dropped to £3.6bn ($4.5bn), representing a 3.5% decrease on the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA was also down on the year prior, totalling £2bn ($2.5bn). The airport cited lower airport charges set by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as reasoning for a decline in revenue and adjusted EBITDA.
“We continue to focus on reducing costs and delivering more efficiencies to improve our EBITDA margin,” Heathrow said in a statement.
Despite this, for the first time in five years, Heathrow's board decided to pay a dividend of £250 million ($316.4 million) to its shareholders in the coming weeks.