London's Heathrow Airport ended 2023 by recording its busiest ever December when more than 6.6 million passengers passed through the UK hub, an increase of 12.7 per cent on the same month in 2022.
The figures took Heathrow's total passenger numbers for 2023 to 79.1 million, an increase of 29 per cent compared to 2022.
Transatlantic travel was a key contributor to December's figures and throughout the year, with New York named Heathrow's most popular destination in 2023 having accounted for more than three million passengers.
More than 24 routes from Heathrow each accounted for more than a million passengers in 2023, with Dubai the second-most popular destination, followed by Qatar, Dublin, Los Angeles, Madrid, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.
North America passengers numbers hit 19.9 million in 2023, up 29.6 per cent on 2022, with the rate of growth eclipsed only by Asia-Pacific, where passenger numbers rose 76.2 per cent to 9.7 million following the wider reopening of the region.
Domestic UK passenger numbers increased by 26.4 per cent in 2023 versus 2022, to 4.2 million, with EU numbers up 22.8 per cent to 26.2 million and non-EU Europe up 19.8 per cent to 5.3 million.