Operational update - 1 Dec 2021

1 December 2021

The following provides an update on the number of flight movements we expect to see at Heathrow during December.

Last month we outlined how we expected to see between 730-900 flight movements a day during November, plateauing compared to October as additional traffic from the opening of the US was offset by the reduction in short-haul leisure travel following the end of Summer. The lowest daily number of flights in the month was 747 (10 November) and the highest was 886 (28 November), well within our predicted range.

Our forecast for December is between 500-1070 flight movements a day, with a large range because there are typically far fewer flights on Christmas Day. However, while growth is currently expected going into December which is typical for this time of year, this may be affected by the impact of the new Covid-19 Omicron variant and Government restrictions around the world. 

As you’ll be aware, in June 2021 we mobilised Terminal 4 as a dedicated red list arrivals facility (RLAF) for all passengers arriving into Heathrow from red list countries. As several countries have recently been added onto the red list, from 1 December Terminal 4 will once again act as a separate arrivals facility for red list countries, separating these arrivals from other passengers in our other terminals. We support the Government’s temporary measures to protect public health as we learn more about the new variant.