Flying high: Heathrow Airport enjoys busiest year on record in 2017

Heathrow Airport recorded its busiest ever year in 2017 with 78 million passengers. The 3.1 per cent increase on 2016 was driven by larger and fuller aircraft. The Middle East market saw the largest annual growth, up 9.5 per cent, followed by Latin America (5.5 per cent). There was a 3.3 per cent rise in the number of passengers travelling on domestic flights. Around 1.7 million tons of cargo passed through the airport, up 10.2 per cent. Boss John Holland-kaye said the airport had helped “to strengthen the British economy”.