Heathrow Airport is bringing back fast track security for all passengers, ahead of what is expected to be a record summer of travel demand.
The West-London hub anticipates over 30 million passengers flying through between June and September and has already bumped up its full-year forecast to 82.4 million.
It comes after a booming year for aviation 2023, which saw travel demand rebound dramatically from Covid-era lows as holidaymakers flocked abroad to make up for years of lockdown.
Heathrow’s fast track service costs £12.50 per person and enables passengers to select a one-hour window to pass through security. The service runs daily between 6am and 10pm across all Heathrow terminals.
Ross Baker, Chief Customer Officer at Heathrow Airport, said: “Fast Track offers a premium security experience, cutting down queue times, getting journeys off to smooth starts and giving passengers extra peace of mind ahead of their trips.
“Fast Track can provide extra confidence for passengers ahead of flights, however, passengers can rest assured of a smooth journey at Heathrow this summer, with almost 99 per cent waiting less than 10 minutes for security in the first quarter of the year.”
Aviation executives have been preparing extensively for the summer season, which is so far expected to run smoothly without any surprise incidents.
But the last two years have both been heavily disrupted by a string of issues.
More than a third of UK flights were delayed in 2022 as airports struggled to get new staff in place after thousands of lockdown-era job cuts.
Cancellations were primarily concentrated over peak periods of travel, including weekends, school holidays and across the hottest days of summer.
Last year, Britain’s National Air Traffic Service (NATS) experienced an unprecedented IT meltdown, which caused chaos on one of the busiest days in August.