Heathrow Reports Record 2025 Passengers, Profit Decline

Heathrow Airport reported record passenger numbers for 2025 while posting a sharp decline in pretax profits, as its chief executive warned that delays in approving a multibillion-pound expansion could hinder the United Kingdom's economic growth.

The west London hub handled 84.5 million passengers last year, a 0.7 percent increase from 2024, pushing revenues up 2 percent to 3.6 billion pounds. However, pretax profits fell more than a third to 575 million pounds, attributed to lower landing charges and higher maintenance costs. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization remained flat at 2 billion pounds. The airport distributed 550 million pounds in dividends to shareholders, marking the first payout in five years following the pandemic recovery. Officials forecast a modest 0.6 percent rise to 85 million passengers this year, with growth expected to slow further as the facility approaches its capacity limit of around 90 million.

Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow's chief executive, highlighted the urgency of advancing the airport's third runway project, estimated at 33 billion pounds for the runway alone and 49 billion pounds overall, including terminal upgrades. The...