Overview

• Heathrow logged its busiest day on 1 August with more than 270,000 passengers, and Terminal 5 set a single‑day record on 22 August with over 112,000 travelers.
• Operational performance improved, with Heathrow citing its most punctual month on record, 96% of passengers clearing security in under five minutes, and 98% of bags traveling as expected.
• Same‑day flight cancellations fell by about a third from last summer and passengers separated from their bags declined by 42% year on year.
• Traffic rose 0.8% year on year in August, with gains reported on routes to the EU, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
• Heathrow reiterated it is at full capacity and promoted its £21 billion, privately financed third‑runway plan—projected to add about 276,000 flights annually—as UK aviation hit new peaks, including a post‑pandemic record for departing flights on 29 August and London Stansted’s busiest August at nearly 3.1 million passengers.