London’s Heathrow Airport made a pre-tax profit last year of £38 million.

It was the first time the hub had made a profit since the outbreak of COVID in 2019.

The airport described 2023 as a ‘strong year’, during which it handled 79.2m passenger – the third highest in its history.

However, it said that a forced 20% reduction in ‘real terms’ airport charges at the start of 2024, as required by the Civil Aviation Authority, means it must ‘close a £400 million gap with efficiencies and investment trade-offs over the next three years’.

And it warned that UK consumers will pay more to travel in the future if Ministers don’t speed up the delivery of a domestic SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) industry.

It also repeated its call for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to bring back tax-free shopping in his spring Budget to ‘level the playing field’ with other European countries.