Europe’s busiest airport reported a record-breaking summer, boosted by Americans flying in to watch Taylor Swift and the Olympics

Heathrow is Europe’s most important hub airport, serving 84 countries and every continent except Antarctica.

Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest, has raised its forecast for annual passenger numbers in 2024 after having a record-breaking busy season that it has termed a “super summer.”

From June to September, 30.7 million passengers passed through Heathrow, bringing the total for the first nine months of the year to 63.1 million, the airport operator said in its quarterly earnings report.

“Consecutive record-breaking weeks and strong operational performance characterised the summer months,” Heathrow said, adding that it had experienced both the busiest departures and busiest arrivals day in the airport’s history on 24 July and 2 September, respectively.

The airport said it now expects 83.8 million passengers to pass through its doors in 2024, up from its previous estimate of 82.8 million.

Heathrow credited the unusually heavy summer traffic to Olympic tourists taking advantage of European city breaks and to “iconic music stars” visiting the UK. The airport is Europe’s biggest hub, with flights from 84 countries and every continent except Antarctica.

Major performers visiting the UK and Europe this summer included Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen.

Heathrow didn’t specifically name Swift, but after kicking off the European leg of her worldwide “The Eras tour” in May, she played 45 sold-out stadium shows in Europe over the summer, including 15 in the UK.

Swift’s presence was expected to boost the UK economy by £997 million ($1.26 billion), according to a report from Barclays.

Taylor Swift onstage at Wembley Stadium in London. 

Planeloads of US fans have followed Swift across the Atlantic, creating a phenomenon that the travel company Expedia termed ‘tour tourism.’

In Paris, where the singer kicked off the European leg of her tour with four back-to-back shows, 20% of tickets had been purchased by Americans, The Associated Press reported.

The International Air Transport Association predicted that 2024 would be a record-breaking year for airline profits and passenger numbers. 4.7 billion journeys are expected to be made through airports this year, an increase of 200 million on record pre-pandemic levels set in 2019.

Despite the growth in passenger numbers, Heathrow reported a 3.2% drop in revenue for the first nine months of 2024 to £2.65 billion ($3.44 billion). The airport’s operating company announced plans to invest over £1 billion ($1.3 billion) into the airport this year.