London Heathrow says demand outlook uncertain on economy, war

London’s Heathrow airport said growing economic headwinds and the escalating war in Ukraine have made the outlook for travel uncertain this winter.

The hub still expects peak days through the Christmas holidays to be very busy and will focus on ramping capacity back up to pre-pandemic levels, it said in a statement Tuesday. Heathrow had close to 5.8 million passengers in September, 15% below 2019 numbers.

As pent-up demand that drove a surge in summer travel fades, there’s growing concern that rising living costs and surging inflation could put consumers off flying during what’s usually a slow season for the European aviation industry.

Earlier this month, Heathrow said it would end capacity curbs it introduced mid-summer amid a labor shortage. A daily limit of about 100,000 passengers will go at the end of this month as a staffing increases and people fly.