Heathrow expects fall in passengers and profits this year because of Iran war

Airport has also been ‘engaging closely’ with regulator to discuss cost of plan to build third runway Heathrow has said that passenger numbers and profits will fall this year because of the war in the Middle East. Europe’s busiest airport said it expected a 1.1% decline in the total number of passengers to 83.6 million as the Iran war affects air travel. In Heathrow’s latest investor report, it said: “The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is putting notable downward pressure on traffic. This reflects the risk that continued volatility in the Middle East could dampen traffic volumes, with impacts extending beyond the region to global travel demand over the remainder of the year.” Heathrow said there had been a 0.7% increase in passenger numbers, to 32.8 million, in the year to the end of May, driven by factors including an increase in the number of passengers using the airport to connect to flights as other hubs were affected by the regional conflict. Heathrow also said it expected profits to decline by £147m year on year, and £60m compared with its last forecast, published in December. The airport last year reported adjusted profits of £2.03bn, and now expects to post £1.88bn thi