Olympics hit Heathrow flyers

It might have flown more canoes, shot-puts and javelins this summer, but the Olympics meant Heathrow saw 400,000 fewer passengers pass through its baggage halls in July and August – drastically slowing its buoyant traffic growth in the year so far.

Heathrow's passengers grew by just 0.6 per cent to 53 million in the nine months to October, the airport said, down from a 2.2 per cent increase in flyer numbers during the first six months of this year.

"July and August did not deliver the level of traffic that we could achieve," Heathrow Airport's finance boss, José Leo, said.

"People's behaviour was affected by the Olympics, many British people decided not to travel abroad and foreigners postponed their plans to travel to the UK."