Heathrow Airport saw passenger numbers fall by 1.8% this June, with 7.2 million travellers using the airport compared with 7.4 million in the same month last year.
Heathrow said the decline was due to the “continued suppression of Middle East traffic” during the ongoing conflict in the region.
More than two million passengers travelled between Heathrow and North America during the month, an increase of 1.2% year on year.
The number was likely to have been boosted by tourists visiting the US for the start of the men’s FIFA World Cup.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said it had been a strong end to the first half of 2026, despite the challenges presented by the situation in the Middle East.
“Sustained growth in North American and Asia-Pacific coupled with climbing cargo volumes demonstrates the strength of demand for global connectivity,” he said.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander recently launched a consultation on Heathrow’s expansion, setting out the conditions that would need to be met for the project to be approved.
Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) is proposing to build a full-length 3,500-metre runway, which would require the M25 motorway to be diverted.
HAL’s scheme is estimated to cost £33bn, including £1.5bn to reroute the M25, and is expected to be funded entirely by private investment.
The expansion would increase Heathrow’s capacity to 756,000 flights and 150 million passengers a year.
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