Heathrow Airport sees busiest April on record

Heathrow Airport said last month was its busiest April on record, with nearly 7.1 million passengers being served.

The number of people using the hub was 5.9% higher than April last year, although the figures were partially driven by the timing of Easter this year.

The west London airport also reported it had the "highest departure punctuality out of the major European hubs" with 99% of bags on the planned flights and 97% of passengers clearing security in under five minutes.

Chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: "Last month showed Heathrow at its very best - we successfully navigated our busiest April ever whilst our service levels took a further leap forward."

Mr Woldbye said work was already ''under way across the airport'' ahead of the busy summer ahead.

"We're providing great value for our passengers and I'm proud of what we've achieved in collaboration with our Team Heathrow partners so far this year,'' he added.

Some airlines which use Heathrow have branded the airport the most expensive in the world for passenger charges.

On 21 March the airport was also shutdown for much of the day because of a substation fire, affecting some 200,000 passengers.

Last week, an interim report by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) said the cause of the blaze was still unknown but found power had been restored to the airport's terminals seven hours before flights resumed.

Following the release of the report, Heathrow Airport said it had raised "important questions", such as how the fire started.

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