Heathrow set to lose its crown as Europe’s busiest airport to Istanbul

The boss of Heathrow Airport has warned that it is set to be usurped as Europe’s busiest hub by Istanbul.

‘I would definitely expect maybe that to happen this year, maybe next year,’ said chief executive Thomas Woldbye.

With Heathrow operating two runways to Istanbul’s five, he called for the development of a third runway to ‘go faster’. He added: ‘We are reaching the

top of our capacity, which is unsatisfactory, and I think is a threat to the country in terms of economic growth and servicing our passengers.’

Heathrow said annual profits fell more than a third to £575million – but, for the first time in five years, handed out a dividend – of £550million. 

Passengers increased to a record 84.5m last year and revenue by 1.8 per cent to £3.6billion.

Handouts: Heathrow said annual profits fell more than a third to £575m – but, for the first time in five years, handed out a dividend – of £550m

The airport’s owners largely consist of overseas investors, led by private equity giant Ardian and Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth funds.

Woldbye said: ‘I think shareholders have been quite patient not having any dividends or any returns for five years. 

‘With a solid cash flow for two years in a row, we decided that this year was a prudent time to do it.’