Heathrow Takes Traffic Hit As Dubai Seeks Return To Normalcy

Travel disruptions related to the Iran war took a toll on London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in April, with Europe’s busiest airport reporting a sharp year-over-year drop in passenger traffic, especially from the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport (DXB), which saw traffic fall 20.6% year-over-year in the first quarter—including a 65.7% drop in March—said “airspace within the UAE is now fully restored” and it is “moving decisively to scale up operations … in line with available regional routing capacity.”

LHR handled 6.7 million passengers in April, down 5% on April 2025. Traffic between LHR and the Middle East declined 52.4% compared to April 2025, with the airport only handling 360,000 passengers to and from the region for the month.

But with Middle East hubs, including DXB, seeing transfer traffic drop, LHR absorbed some of the displacement. LHR reported a 10% increase in transfer passengers in April compared to the year-ago month as travelers “reroute and benefit from Heathrow’s … direct connectivity to Asia and Oceania,” the airport said.

With higher jet fuel prices related to the war putting pressure on traffic, LHR also saw year-over-year declines in April traffic to and from North America (1.7 million passengers, down 1.3%) and Latin America (172,000 passengers, down 3.6%). April EU traffic to and from LHR was flat at 2.4 million, according to the airport.

Heathrow had already predicted slow growth for the full year, forecasting in January that it will handle 85 million passengers in 2026, which would be up less than 1% over 84.5 million passengers in 2025. Heathrow officials have said the airport is reaching capacity limits, constraining growth potential.

“In light of the Middle East conflict, Heathrow’s 2026 passenger forecast will be reviewed and updated in June,” LHR said.

Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said the recent falloff in traffic represents a “short‑term disruption linked to the Middle East conflict,” adding that “demand for travel remains strong with current fuel supplies stable.”

The airport started the year strong in terms of traffic, handling 18.9 million passengers in the first quarter, up 3.7% on the first three months of 2025. When the March quarter results were announced last month, Heathrow CFO Sally Ding said the “outlook is uncertain” for the rest of the year because of the Iran war.