Heathrow hiring as traffic hits highest since start of Covid

London’s Heathrow airport will ramp up hiring “as fast as possible” after passenger numbers surged last month to the highest since the Covid-19 pandemic began. 

The 4.2 million travelers passing through the facility during March represents a more than seven-fold jump from a year earlier, according to a statement Monday. 

The hub, once Europe’s busiest, is racing to hire 12,000 new workers to meet demand after the U.K. lifted curbs on travel. It said it expects a summer travel season that could approach 2019 levels at its peak.

The rapid upswing in travel volumes has put pressure on Heathrow and other airports to rapidly gear up operations after two years of stop-and-start business. Britain’s airports and airlines have struggled to handle increased volumes in the run-up to the Easter holidays after cutting back on staff during the pandemic. 

Fuel shortages and a controversial mass firing at P&O Ferries Ltd. have added to the congestion. The company’s vessels running between Dover and Calais, France, remain idled after almost a month. The capacity shortage led to truck backups over the past weekend, while drivers in southeast England have been hit by some pump closures.

Some 34% of EasyJet Plc flights were delayed on Sunday, according to tracking site FlightAware, and officials have warned of more queues at airports later this week. The low-cost carrier has had to cancel flights due to a wave of staff Covid-19 infections, while British Airways also pre-emptively pared back its schedule due to technology glitches, hiring and resource issues at Heathrow. Still, FlightAware showed 31% of its flights delayed on Sunday.

Holiday Getaways

Demand during March was driven by U.K. holidaymakers going overseas, Heathrow said. Leisure and business travel into the country remains weak due to high Covid levels in the country and the requirement for overseas visitors to test before returning home.

The airport also warned that it was still unclear whether the surge in demand was sustainable, with the war in Ukraine, high fuel prices and the potential for new Covid variants clouding the medium-term outlook. The airport said it was reviewing its forecasts and provide an update later this month. 

“It is fantastic to see the airport coming back to life after two years,” Chief Executive officer John Holland-Kaye said in the statement.