Heathrow Airport: Employment levels no longer sustainable

Heathrow Airport: Employment levels no longer sustainable
Heathrow Airport: Employment levels no longer sustainable

London’s Heathrow Airport announced that employment levels are no longer sustainable, as UK government launches 14-day quarantine.

  • Passenger numbers in May continued at an all-time low (down 97% compared to the same time last year)
  • Grim picture is set to continue thanks to the Governmentโ€™s quarantine policy which requires all arriving passengers to self-isolate for two weeks. In line with this decline, the airport has begun to restructure its frontline roles, having already cut 1/3rdย of managerial roles.
  • Heathrow is urging the Government to establish โ€˜air bridgesโ€™ to low risk countries that will enable the country to restart its economy in earnest, protecting livelihoods in aviation and the sectors that rely on it.
  • Comes as aviation industry calls for a 12-months waiver in business rates for all airports in England and Wales, matching the support given to Scottish and Northern Irish airports and the UKโ€™s hospitality and leisure sector.
  • Despite an increase in cargo only aircraft, overall cargo tonnage has decreased by 40% as the bulk of cargo usually travels in the belly hold of passenger planes.
  • Last month, Heathrow began trialing thermal screening technology in the immigration hall of Terminal 2 and the check in area in Terminal 5. These trials are part of a wider program looking at how technology could reduce the risk of contracting or transmitting COVID-19 when travelling and in future could help create a Common International Standard for health screening.

Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye, said: โ€œThroughout this crisis, we have tried to protect front line jobs, but this is no longer sustainable, and we have now agreed a voluntary severance scheme with our union partners. While we cannot rule out further job reductions, we will continue to explore options to minimize the number of job losses.โ€

Traffic Summary
May 2020
Terminal Passengers
(000s)
May 2020 % Change Jan to
May 2020
% Change Jun 2019 to
May 2020
% Change
Market
UK 12 -97.3 935 -50.6 3,882 -24.2
EU 92 -96.2 4,740 -55.4 21,584 -27.5
Non-EU Europe 11 -97.5 1,098 -51.4 4,534 -26.6
Africa 8 -96.9 800 -44.9 2,861 -24.4
North America 31 -98.2 3,275 -53.9 15,008 -24.8
Latin America 4 -96.7 314 -44.9 1,127 -24.5
Middle East 30 -94.2 1,684 -43.2 6,471 -21.6
Asia / Pacific 39 -95.6 2,234 -51.9 9,067 -27.9
Blanks 1 0.0 1 0.0 1 0.0
Total 228 -96.6 15,082 -52.1 64,535 -26.0
Air Transport Movements May 2020 % Change Jan to
May 2020
% Change Jun 2019 to
May 2020
% Change
Market
UK 216 -94.2 9,277 -41.4 34,186 -17.3
EU 1,428 -92.4 44,580 -48.1 168,016 -26.7
Non-EU Europe 270 -92.7 10,024 -45.2 35,292 -25.7
Africa 255 -79.1 3,887 -39.8 12,661 -22.5
North America 1,552 -79.3 20,291 -39.8 70,020 -22.0
Latin America 75 -85.3 1,510 -40.2 4,987 -25.0
Middle East 930 -60.4 8,439 -31.2 26,751 -18.6
Asia / Pacific 1,629 -57.9 12,181 -38.0 39,875 -22.8
Blanks 121 121 121
Total 6,476 -84.4 110,310 -43.4 391,909 -24.0
Cargo
(Metric Tonnes)
May 2020 % Change Jan to
May 2020
% Change Jun 2019 to
May 2020
% Change
Market
UK 59 -4.2 302 26.1 759 0.0
EU 4,694 -44.4 26,933 -31.7 81,921 -25.3
Non-EU Europe 2,856 -41.1 13,067 -44.5 46,530 -26.0
Africa 4,552 -46.9 26,771 -34.6 79,169 -22.5
North America 25,154 -44.4 174,257 -29.2 493,082 -24.7
Latin America 977 -79.4 12,506 -46.7 43,397 -28.0
Middle East 15,766 -26.5 83,653 -18.6 239,969 -12.8
Asia / Pacific 24,278 -40.3 126,180 -36.4 394,516 -27.5
Blanks 2,314 2,314 2,314
Total 80,650 -39.8 465,985 -31.3 1,381,659 -23.8

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Chief Assignment Editor

Chief Assignment editor is Oleg Siziakov

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