Additional sunny flights scheduled for the London International Airport this winter are a good sign of pandemic recovery as more passengers are packing their bags and heading to the terminals, according to officials.
Earlier this week, the airport announced that Swoop flights are set to provide “non-stop service” to Orlando, Fla., Cancun, Mexico, as well as continued service to Edmonton starting December.
“We welcomed Swoop back in June after they had stopped operations here during the pandemic,” said Scott McFadzean, president and CEO of London International Airport. “It’s a great boost to the airport.”
McFadzean added that the airport received its status to allow international flights again at the beginning of March, and since then, local terminals “are growing.”
“We’re planning to build on that momentum and keep things moving into 2023,” he said.
In 2019, the highest recorded number of passengers reached nearly 700,000 flying out of the local airport. Now on track to hit roughly 250,000 passengers this year, McFadzean said, “the whole industry is trying to come back strong.”
“I think continuing to add more service and more choice for people in London and surrounding areas is a big factor,” he said. “We’re kind of looking at 2024 or 2025 until we’re fully back and returning to pre-pandemic growth mode again, but it’s all positive news and we’re heading in the right direction.
“We are encouraged by what we’re seeing for this winter and into 2023, so we’re hoping to be back up to about 500,000 by then,” he added.
According to McFadzean, planning and preparations are still in order to ensure that airport staffing levels, as well as government agencies operating out of the airport, are in great shape.
“We’re not seeing the issues that we’ve seen this summer at some of the larger hub airports,” he said. “There’s a strong pent-up leisure demand, and we expect to have a booming winter season here.”
More information can be found on the London International Airport website.