Heathrow Airport’s revenue for the first quarter of 2025 rose by 2.1% year-on-year to £825 million, up from £808m in 2024.
The increase was driven by more long-haul flying as well as improved property and retail income, which included the launch of its T5 private lounge The Windsor – the first phase of the airport’s refreshed VIP service.
While adjusted earnings increased 2.5% to £454m (up from £443m in 2024), adjusted operating costs also rose by 1.6% to £371m because of higher cleaning, maintenance and persons with Reduced Mobility services costs.
Passenger numbers for the three months to 31 March dipped slightly to 18.2m from 18.5m in the same period in 2024.
Overall, Heathrow expects passenger demand in 2025 to exceed last year’s levels, citing the launch of nine new routes for summer 2025.
New long-haul connections include Cancun in Mexico, Ottawa in Canada and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, as well as new short-haul services to Rimini in Italy, Tbilisi in Georgia and Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Heathrow also plans to provide its business plan for the 2027-31 period to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) this summer.
The timeline for CAA’s review of the price control at Heathrow, which determines how much the airport can charge airlines for using the airport between 2027 to 2031, has been delayed. A final decision is now expected in April 2027.
Heathrow is working on submitting its proposal for expansion to government ministers by the summer.
In a statement, Heathrow said: “Our plans would be entirely privately funded and have the potential to kickstart economic growth across the whole of the UK from construction through to operation.
“Depending on the Government’s response, we would aim to meet their ambition to secure planning permission in this Parliament and for the runway to be operational by 2035.
“New capacity would boost competition and choice for consumers, drive economic growth for the UK and improve operational resilience at the UK’s hub airport.”
Heathrow Chief Financial Officer Sally Ding said: “2025 will be a pivotal year for Heathrow as we finalise our business plan for the next five years and submit our proposals to Government to unlock new capacity at the UK’s gateway to growth.
“Our focus on steadily improving operational performance is yielding results, and our future plans will enable us to deliver better value and more growth for our customers and the country.”
