The UK's London Heathrow has posted its best-ever January figures for cargo and passengers.

It handled more than 133,000 tonnes of cargo in January, with top destinations the US (1,214 tonnes), Spain (1,070 tonnes) and China (966 tonnes).

Passenger numbers hit 5.8 million for the month, up by 1.1 per cent compared to 2017, with South Asia and Latin America dominating, up by 11.3 per cent and 6.9 per cent respectively.

 

UK domestic flights also were up, by 6.9 per cent.

 

John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow ceo said: “Heathrow started with a bang in 2018, witnessing record passenger numbers and cargo volumes. Heathrow’s expansion is expected to connect global trading routes with Britain’s economy, as we leave the EU.”

 

Meanwhile, it was a mixed start to the year for other European carriers' cargo businesses, with Lufthansa up and others down.

 

Germany's Lufthansa Cargo saw air cargo demand increase by 9.3 per cent year on year in January with 80 million revenue cargo tonne kms (RCTK), its best start to the year for cargo since 2011 when it handled 817 million RCTK.

 

It previously posted a 7.3 per cent improvement for 2017.