London concerts drive travellers to airport, which may reinstate dividend for first time in four years
Taylor Swift fans and Olympic visitors helped push record-breaking numbers of passengers to travel through Heathrow between June and September, prompting the airport to consider reinstating its dividend for the first time in four years.
The UK’s biggest airport said there had been multiple consecutive weeks with record passenger numbers during the school holidays, with 30.7 million travellers passing through from June to September – bringing the total for the first nine months of the year to 63.1 million.
Heathrow said there had been a summer increase in departures because of Olympic travellers enjoying European city breaks after the Paris Games, as well as music stars playing in London, as Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Kylie and Shania Twain all staged concerts in the capital.
The airport experienced the busiest day for departures in its history on 24 July, followed by its busiest ever arrivals day on 2 September. As a result, Heathrow has increased its 2024 passenger forecast to 83.
