HEATHROW ANNOUNCES LOSS OF £2BN IN PAST YEAR
AIRPORT BOSSES ISSUE URGENT CALL TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR RAFT OF HELP MEASURES
HEATHROW Airport bosses have called for urgent support to be given to the aviation industry after recording a huge annual loss for the last year.
The airport suffered a £2 billion pre-tax loss for 2020 as passengers numbers fell sharply during the coronavirus pandemic, falling from 80.9 million in 2019 to 22.1 million last year.
Most of those passengers came through the airport in January and February before the first lockdown, bosses said.
In 2019 Heathrow made a pre-tax profit of £546 million.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak was set to deliver measures to support the troubled aviation industry in the budget as this paper went to press, and Heathrow bosses have asked for full business rates relief, an extension to the furlough scheme and the opportunity to bring back VAT-free shopping for tourists.
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “2020 has been one of our most challenging years – but despite £2billion of losses and shrinking to passenger levels we haven’t seen since the 70s, I am hugely proud of the way that our colleagues have kept our passengers safe and the UK’s hub airport open for vital supplies throughout.
“We can be hopeful for 2021, with Britain on the cusp of becoming the first country in the world to safely resume international travel.
“Getting aviation moving again will save thousands of jobs and reinvigorate the economy, and Heathrow will be working with the Global Travel Taskforce to develop a robust plan underpinned by science and backed by industry.”
New tougher international travel rules were introduced in the UK earlier this month to help curb the threat of new coronavirus variants.
Anyone who enters England, having visited or passed through a country where travel to the UK is banned, in the last 10 days, must quarantine in a hotel for a period of 10 days.
They must also follow national lockdown rules and take a coronavirus test within their first two days of quarantine and within their last three days.
Heathrow and Gatwick Airport are among the five UK airports which have been welcoming those passengers.
Speaking on Monday (February 22), Boris Johnson announced that a taskforce would work with the travel sector, including airports and airlines, to make recommendations aimed at allowing international air travel to resume.
The taskforce will report to the Prime Minister by Monday April 12.