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Going to the airport is never particularly fun, and things can be made a whole lot more stressful if it’s really busy. Sure, the experience can be improved by a couple of pre-holiday pints at ‘Spoons, but there’s not much worse than the stress of going through packed-out lines at security and passport control.
If you’re heading to Heathrow any time soon, prepare for it to be more full of people than ever before. The west London airport just reported the busiest year in its history. In the year to the end of May 2024, a massive 81.5 million passengers passed through its terminals, up from 71.6 million during the previous year.
Although this means longer queues, it’s good news for the return of international travel post-Covid. Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: ‘We have a winning team at Heathrow which has proven that we have put Covid firmly behind us.
‘Thanks to their extraordinary efforts we are now giving record numbers of people the chance to connect smoothly with the world.’
Heathrow may be thriving, but it’s not been smooth flying for all the UK’s airports. Birmingham Airport has faced chaos and hours-long security queues this summer because (in part) of the government’s recent U-turn on scrapping the 100ml liquids rule. Meanwhile, one airline was recently voted the worst in the UK because of poor performance.
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