Three of the UK’s four biggest airports handled record numbers of passengers in 2025 – with London Heathrow, the largest, reaching 84.5 million during the year.
But Manchester, the third-busiest airport, saw a faster rate of grow to reach 32 million, while London Stansted recorded over 30 million passengers for the first time.
Heathrow averaged over 231,000 arrivals and departures each day. The busiest day in the history of the west London airport was 1 August 2025, when more than 270,000 passengers passed through.
Daily numbers for December were slightly above the average for the year.
Thomas Woldbye, chief executive for Heathrow, said: “December’s record-breaking performance shows the strength of demand for Heathrow and the benefit to passengers of the great service our colleagues are providing.
"Last year, there was no hub airport in Europe that was more punctual than Heathrow and we look forward to building on that success in 2026. With the government’s support for our expansion plans, and the right regulatory framework from the Civil Aviation Authority to secure private investment, we can unlock even more of that connectivity, trade and economic growth for the UK.”
Heathrow has been given the go-ahead to build a third runway, which could see passenger numbers rise to 150 million.
The airport says existing passengers should contribute to the cost of new infrastructure, but airlines are firmly opposed.
While passenger numbers at Heathrow grew by 0.7 per cent over the year compared with 2024, travellers to and from North America shrank slightly, by 0.3 per cent.
Traffic to the Middle East, Asia and Africa performed more strongly – each market up by more than 2 per cent.
Disruption caused a fire at an electricity substation supplying the hub in March 2025 shaved about 0.3 per cent from the year’s performance.
Heathrow says that over 97 per cent of passengers waited less than five minutes to pass through security during the course of the year.
Manchester airport saw the strongest year-on-year growth for a top-tier airport. Passenger numbers at the northwest hub were up 4.2 per cent to 32.1 million – an average of almost 90,000 passengers per day. During the year, the first direct flights to Delhi and Mumbai began.
Ken O’Toole, chief executive of Manchester Airports Group (MAG), said: “As the UK’s largest investor in infrastructure outside London, we are set to conclude our historic transformation of Manchester airport and to progress with significant investment programmes across our group starting this year.”
MAG also owns Stansted airport, the UK’s fourth-busiest. During 2025, a record 30 million passengers passed through the Essex terminal – up 1.6 per cent on the previous year, and an average of over 82,000 travellers per day.
At security checkpoints, 99 per cent of Stansted passengers passed through in 15 minutes or less. The corresponding figure for Manchester airport is 98 per cent.
London Gatwick, the UK’s second-busiest airport, has yet to report its 2025 figures.
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