Heathrow welcomes over 6 million passengers in March

In March, Heathrow welcomed more than 6.2 million passengers, a slight decline on 2024 due to the timing of Ramadan and a later Easter this year which both impact travel patterns, along with a 10-hour closure due a power supply failure caused by the major fire at National Grid and SSEN’s North Hyde substation.

Heathrow continues to facilitate UK trade growth handling over 144,000 tonnes of cargo in March 2025 – including a strong 4% year-on-year increase in cargo flown in the belly hold of passenger flights. Projections show Mother’s Day flowers were particularly popular, with an estimated 2,800 tonnes of flowers coming in just before the celebrations.

The UK’s gateway to growth is opening up even more as eight new and resumed routes will be joining Heathrow’s expansive lineup.  The new offerings from Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada and British Airways include connections to the capital cities of Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), Canada (Ottawa) and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur).

Heathrow passengers can now travel to the cities of four UNESCO World Heritage sites, across three continents, including Canada’s Rideau Canal (Ottawa), Santiago de Compostela’s Old Town, the Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna (Rimini), and Georgia’s Historic Monuments of Mtskheta (Tbilisi), making it the first time a flight from Heathrow has been routed for Tbilisi in the last 10 years.

Looking ahead, the airport anticipates an increase in passengers over the next few months as many people plan to reunite with loved ones during the Easter period and take advantage of the May bank holidays.

Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow CEO, said: “It’s great to see strong demand to travel through Heathrow. Whilst passenger numbers were slightly down due to changing holidays this year, belly hold cargo on passenger flights was a bright spot growing 4% and underlining the importance of Heathrow as the UK’s gateway to growth. We are still on track to see another record year in 2025 and colleagues are working hard preparing for a busy Easter and May Bank Holiday getaway.” 

Traffic Summary – March 2025 

Terminal Passengers (000s)	Mar 2025	% Change	Jan to Mar 2025	% Change	Apr 2024 to Mar 2025	% Change
Market
UK	374	-5.9	1,057	-5.0	4,610	6.2
EU	2,000	-8.5	5,622	-3.3	27,917	4.8
Non-EU Europe	434	-11.8	1,309	-5.4	5,577	2.2
Africa	262	-9.7	836	-5.5	3,270	-8.3
North America	1,505	-7.4	4,068	-0.0	20,624	1.7
Latin America	192	0.7	599	6.9	2,240	7.1
Middle East	600	-8.0	2,061	0.8	8,560	4.6
Asia / Pacific	851	-4.6	2,695	1.7	10,791	5.6
Total	6,218	-7.5	18,247	-1.5	83,588	3.5

 

Air Transport Movements	Mar 2025	% Change	Jan to Mar 2025	% Change	Apr 2024 to Mar 2025	% Change
Market
UK	3,313	7.6	9,829	10.7	38,095	14.6
EU	16,396	-3.0	47,749	0.2	206,481	3.6
Non-EU Europe	3,539	-9.6	10,548	-6.0	40,599	-1.2
Africa	1,325	-1.6	3,962	-1.5	14,929	-3.5
North America	6,958	-5.8	19,960	-2.1	90,613	-1.3
Latin America	821	2.1	2,518	4.8	9,265	4.2
Middle East	2,462	1.3	7,622	4.4	31,086	3.7
Asia / Pacific	3,543	-4.4	10,674	-2.3	42,993	0.4
Total	38,357	-3.0	112,862	0.1	474,061	2.5