London’s Heathrow announces airport upgrade

LONDON: London’s Heathrow airport on Wednesday unveiled plans to invest £2.3 billion ($2.9 billion) over the next two years to upgrade Europe’s busiest airport.

The investment will go towards improving baggage delivery and projects to support punctual departures and arrivals, the company said, as the airport faces booming passenger demand since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The announcement comes days after French private equity group Ardian and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF finalised their acquisition of a nearly 38-percent stake in Heathrow from Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial and other shareholders.

Heathrow, the UK and Europe’s busiest airport by passenger numbers, served a record 39.8 million passengers in the first half of 2024, with demand having more than doubled after the Covid-19 pandemic.

It recently increased its full-year forecast to 83.8 million passengers.

Since the pandemic, Heathrow and European peers have suffered from flight cancellations, delays, long queues and baggage delivery problems.

Earlier this year, the airport criticised a decision by the British Civil Aviation Authority which asked Heathrow to reduce fees charged to carriers for 2025 and 2026.

In October, the airport reported a 3.2 percent fall in revenue for the first nine months of this year, citing an existing drop in charges.

However, net profit after tax rose nearly eight percent to £496 million.