Dubai was the top holiday destination during half-term for passengers flying from Heathrow, data from the UK's biggest airport shows.
A total of 5.2 million passengers travelled through the airport in February.
The month saw the biggest single day in Terminal 5 since Christmas 2019, with more than 94,000 travellers passing through on February 26.
Dubai topped the destination list, followed by New York and Madrid.
A spokeswoman for Heathrow said passenger traffic between the hub and Dubai was 5 per cent larger in February compared to the same month in 2019.
Traffic between Abu Dhabi and Heathrow was 86 per cent recovered in the same period, similar to New York's John F Kennedy International Airport, which was 90 per cent recovered.
“The February half-term went very smoothly, thanks to a great plan and teamwork across the airport”, said Heathrow's chief executive John Holland-Kaye.
“This should give everyone confidence that we are prepared for a successful Easter getaway.”
Earlier this month, Heathrow Airport was told it must lower the passenger fees that it charges airlines using the UK hub.
The Civil Aviation Authority announced that Heathrow, Europe's busiest hub, could charge an average maximum price per passenger of £27.49 ($32.51) over the 2022-2026 period.
Last month, the airport operator reported an underlying pre-tax loss of £684 million for last year, against a loss of £1.3 billion in 2021, even though it said it saw the largest increase in passengers of any European airport last year.
Heathrow is the world’s second busiest hub, behind Dubai International Airport.
Dubai and Heathrow airports in the 70s and 80s — in pictures
Royal wedding inspired menu
Ginger, citrus and orange blossom iced tea
Avocado ranch dip with crudites
Cucumber, smoked salmon and cream cheese mini club sandwiches
Elderflower and lemon syllabub meringue
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
