UK. Heathrow Airport today announced a 3.4% rise year-on-year in first-half retail revenues to £339 million (US$422 million), ahead of a 1.8% increase in passenger numbers. The performance was driven by a 1.5% boost in retail revenue per passenger to £8.75 (US$10.90).
Groupwide revenues rose 4.0% to £1,461 million (US$1,820 million) while EBITDA was up by 1.5% to £900 million (US$1,121 million).
The UK’s busiest airport handled a record 38.8 million passengers in the period. Retail performance was particularly boosted by increased Chinese passenger spending. In June, Heathrow launched a direct flight to Zhengzhou, a European first and the airport’s 13th direct connection to China.
Retail revenue growth, led by retail concessions, catering and other services, reflected strong traffic performance and a higher percentage of participating passengers, the airport company said. Food & beverage also benefited from an improved outlet offering while other services saw strong performance in the airport’s VIP offering due to the Cricket World Cup.
For the first half of the year Heathrow Airport achieved an ASQ ranking of 4.18 out of 5.00 (2018: 4.17) compared to 3.97 just five years ago.
Heathrow Chief Executive Officer John Holland-Kaye said: “2019 is shaping up to be a strong year for Heathrow – our colleagues are delivering an excellent service to passengers, we’re investing millions to improve the airport and secure new skilled jobs for the future and we’ve set out our plans to expand Britain’s hub airport sustainably and affordably.”
