Heathrow overtaken by Charles de Gaulle as it loses £1.5 billion
Heathrow has been overtaken by Paris Charles de Gaulle as Europe's busiest airport, with the west London hub reporting rising losses.
A total of 19.0 million passengers travelled through Heathrow in the first nine months of the year, compared with 19.3 million who used the airport in the French capital.
H e a t h r o w w a r n e d t h a t A m s t e r d a m S c h i p h o l a n d Frankfurt are "close behind", noting that coronavirus testing regimes have been implemented at all three "continental rivals".
Heathrow recorded a loss of £1.5 billion in the first nine months of the year.
Passenger numbers between J u l y a n d S e p t e m b e r we r e down by more than 84 per cent compared with the same period in 2019.
Third- quar ter revenue fell by 72 p er cent year on year to £239 million, while earn
ings b efore tax and interest dropped to £37m.
H e a t h r o w c h i e f e x e c u - tive John Holland-kaye said: "B r i t a i n i s f a l l i n g b e h i n d because we've been too slow to embrace passenger testing.
"E u r o p e a n l e a d e r s a c t e d quicker and now their economies are reaping the benefits.
"Paris has overtaken Heathrow as Europ e's largest airport for the first time ever, and Frankfurt and Amsterdam are quickly gaining ground.
"Let's make Britain a winner again.
"Bringing in pre - departure C ov i d t e s t s a n d p a r t n e r i n g with our US allies to open a pilot air bridge to America will kick-start our economic recovery and put the UK back ahead of our European rivals."
Earlier this month, Transport Secretar y Grant Shapps launched a taskforce to develop methods of reducing the 14-day self-isolation period for people arriving in the UK from non-exempt locations.
He said the Government is considering a "test and release r e g i m e " w h i c h wo u l d s t i l l involve a quarantine period of at least a week.
Heathrow insisted its finances "remain robust", with £4.5 billion of liquidity.
I t s a i d i t s c a s h r e s e r v e s a r e "s u f f i c i e n t f o r t h e n ex t 1 2 m o n t h s e v e n u n d e r a n extreme scenario with no revenue".
Industr y body ACI Europe h a s w a r n e d t h a t n e a r - l y 2 0 0 a i r p o r t s a c r o s s t h e c o n t i n e n t f a c e i n s o l v e n - c y i n t h e c o m i n g m o n t h s .