Comment: Why Heathrow is staying open despite the Covid worries

By Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrow chief operations officer

One month ago, our daily existence was totally different to how we are living today. The COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in the tragic loss of many lives. It has also left an indelible mark on the way we all conduct our personal and professional lives.

Needless to say, life at Heathrow has changed immeasurably too. In January we were reporting another record traffic month with over 6 million passengers and a bright demand forecast for 2020. We were focusing on our plans to further the decarbonisation of aviation, through a blueprint that we still hope will pave the way for the sector.

In stark contrast, last Monday, we announced our March passenger numbers and they had halved as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Passenger numbers are expected to drop even further this month to a mere 10% of normal April passenger volumes.

This situation has led us to take the significant step of consolidating our operations into Terminals 2 and 5. We’ve had to take difficult decisions, along with many other businesses, to implement pay reductions across the company. We have also moved to single runway operation for the first time in our history and we are reviewing all capital investment. Our goal - to protect as many jobs as possible whilst remaining safe and open for the UK.

Many people are, however, questioning the need for the airport to operate at all during this most challenging time. The fact is, keeping Heathrow open now, is more important than ever.

Before becoming a civilian airport in 1946, Heathrow was one of the country’s military airfields, helping to transport troops and supplies to far flung places. Through this pandemic, we are returning to our roots as our runways have once again been enlisted to enable airlines to bring essential supplies to help fight this very different battle: testing kits, protective equipment and crucial machinery such as respirators. Medical experts, critical to the UK’s response to this outbreak, are also entering the country via Heathrow.

During regular operations, Heathrow handles 41% of the UK’s pharmaceuticals by value - a vital international supply line for these crucial products. Now, our airlines are ramping up their cargo capacity through the operation of new, dedicated cargo-only flights to further serve the country’s needs. Over the past week, we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of items of much-needed PPE and ventilators from Shanghai, Turkey, Hong Kong and beyond, flown in by our airlines, to equip our NHS heroes.

Over the last week we have also welcomed over 50 repatriation flights, with the capacity to carry up to 14,000 passengers. Repatriation flights are indispensable to Britons stranded abroad, who want to get back to their family and friends and the security of their own home. Some regular commercial flights are still operating at Heathrow and the Government is encouraging Britons abroad to use these to get home as specially chartered repatriation flights are not always possible.

Understandably, our passengers have been questioning whether the procedures carried out by Public Health England at Heathrow are stringent enough. There have been queries on why temperature checks, in particular, are not being implemented at UK airports. The answer here is clear. We comply with Government policy and Government follows a scientific and evidence based approach to the measures it adopts. The closure of borders and temperature checks at airports are not deemed to be effective measures.

At Heathrow, we have to trust the advice from the medical experts. We have followed their guidance right from the start of this crisis to ensure we have the right measures in place to protect our colleagues and passengers. In our terminals you’ll see social distancing advice everywhere and visual prompts both on the floor and on digital screens. You’ll see over 600 hand sanitiser dispensers and reminders to wash your hands as soon as you arrive at Heathrow. And you’ll see hygiene screens retrofitted at key passenger interaction points across the campus and some of our colleagues wearing masks, provided by us.