Bosses at Heathrow Airport on Friday said it had suffered a slow start to 2022 after 1.3 million passengers had their travel plans ruined by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, although there is hope of a summer rebound.
The London airport said many passengers either cancelled or did not book trips at all during December and January, with travel demand in January 56 per cent down on pre-coronavirus levels.
Heathrow, usually one of the world’s busiest airports, expects to be only half as busy this year as it was before the pandemic, and is banking on a booming summer holiday season to offset the sluggish start.
“After a tough Christmas, Omicron has continued to bite and this has been a weak start to the year. As short-lived as the additional travel restrictions were, they ruined the travel plans of more than 1.3 million passengers in the last two months,” said John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow.
Mr Holland-Kay welcomed the removal of restrictions for vaccinated passengers in and out of the UK on Friday and said it “offers a ray of hope” for the industry.
“But the Omicron hangover proves demand remains fragile and at risk to new variants of concern and the government needs to set out a playbook for managing future variants that allows travel and trade to keep flowing,” he said.
While bookings for outbound tourism are recovering, Heathrow said inbound tourism and business travel remain weak due to Covid-19 levels in the UK and elsewhere, while international testing requirements and the risk of new border closures in the event of a new variant of concern are also a risk.
“We are maintaining our forecast for the year at just over half of pre-pandemic levels on the basis that strong demand for outbound summer holidays can offset a weaker start to the year, and are working with airlines and ground handlers to increase resources across the airport ahead of the summer peak,” a Heathrow statement said.
Britain unveiled a £10 million global tourism campaign at Expo 2020 Dubai on Wednesday as it looks to strengthen close trade ties with the UAE.
The global initiative to drive inbound tourism to the UK, after the sector was hammered by the fallout from the pandemic, comes as the country gears up for a year of big events including Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee celebrations and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The upbeat outlook for summer comes a day after the airport set out a series of green goals for the next decade as part of its strategy to develop and grow sustainably and ensure 2019 was its peak carbon year.
The Heathrow 2.0: Connecting People and Plant strategy aims to tackle climate change, decarbonise flights and improve the community around the airport with new measures to minimise noise and improve air quality.
Heathrow's views on the year ahead echoed those of the world's largest holiday company Tui, which said this week that British holidaymakers were leading a recovery in summer demand as testing rules and restrictions are lifted.
Meanwhile, the UK's second-largest airport Gatwick on Friday said it would reopen its south terminal next month, as it expects demand to pick up for summer.
The airport said a number of airlines, including British Airways, Aer Lingus, Oslo-listed Norwegian Air and low-cost groups Vueling, Wizz Air and Ryanair, will start returning to the south terminal from March 27.
The terminal shut down for nearly two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, the possibility of new variants still poses a threat to a sustained rebound and Gatwick's chief executive Stewart Wingate said it may take time for consumer confidence to fully recover.
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
