Heathrow sees passengers dip amid Iran conflict

The airport says “underlying demand remains resilient”, pointing to a 10% year‑on‑year rise in transfer passengers in April.

It said this was driven by more travellers flying into Heathrow and then connecting onwards to destinations in Asia and Oceania.

About half a million passengers a day typically pass through major hub airports in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, which act as key connecting points between Europe, Asia and Australia.

However, many travellers are now avoiding the region because of the conflict.

During the first three months of the year, around 18.9 million passengers passed through Heathrow’s four terminals, a year‑on‑year increase of 3.7%.

The airport previously explained this was because it had “temporarily absorbed demand from elsewhere”.