Heathrow airport has published its financial results for 2022, showing an annual loss before tax of £684 million.
The figures compares to a loss of £1.27 billion in 2021, and around £2 billion in 2020.
But the result falls somewhat short of the £546 million profit achieved in pre-pandemic 2019, as “inflation, lower passenger numbers and insufficient regulated charges impacted underlying profitability”.
Announcing his last set of annual figures before stepping down as Heathrow’s CEO later this year, John Holland-Kaye said that 2023 was “shaping up to be a year of renewal” for the airport.
More than 5.4 million travellers passed through the London hub in January – the airport’s busiest start to the year since 2019, and Heathrow said that over 25,000 people had started working at the airport in the last 18 months, with resource levels “now close to pre-pandemic levels”.
The airport expects the final decision from the Civil Aviation Authority on the so-called H7 settlement in March, which it says “will determine investment levels in passenger service over coming years”.
Commenting on the results Holland-Kaye said:
“2022 may have been a year of recovery, but 2023 is shaping up to be a year of renewal for Heathrow.
“Our teams have already delivered a successful Christmas and half-term getaway, and with a great investment plan in place, we are determined to once again rank in the top ten airports for service.
“I couldn’t be prouder of how far Team Heathrow has come in my nine years as CEO – from transforming customer service, to securing Parliamentary approval for expansion to surviving two years of border closures and rebuilding the business.
“My successor will take on a fantastic team who are making Heathrow a world leading hub that Britain can be proud of.”
Again no mention was made of potential industrial action in the coming weeks – Border Force staff are set to strike on March 15 as part of a wide walkouts involving 100,000 Public and Commercial Services Union members to coincide with Budget Day.
And the Unite Union has announced that over 3,000 security guards, engineers and firefighters at Heathrow are to be balloted over industrial action, raising the possibility of strikes over the busy Easter period.
