Strong retail sales at London Heathrow International Airport and continued passenger growth pushed total revenue up +2.3% to £1.4bn ($1.8bn) in the half-year ended 30 June 2018. EBITDA also rose +1.6% to £848m ($1.1bn) during the same period.

Retail sales increased +4.8% to £328m from the £313m during the previous corresponding period in 2017 with sunglasses proving particularly popular. Strong retail spend also supported lower airport charges which fell around -1%.

Spend per passenger increased +2.2% to £8.62 from £8.43 during the same period last year. Revenue from retail concessions rose +4.2% to £148m from £142m in H1 2017. Other retail, which reflects ‘an upside in advertising income from an enhanced utilisation of spaces’ was up +7.4% to £58m from £54m in H1 2017.

In the first half of the year, the airport, which recently opened a new Louis Vuitton store in Terminal 4, handled an all-time high 38.1m passengers. This is an increase of +2.5% from the 37.1m in H1 2017. Intercontinental traffic was up +2.5% while short-haul including domestic traffic volumes were up +2.6% in the period. Long haul traffic was primarily boosted on routes to North America and Asia including additional flights to Boston, Mumbai and Istanbul.

HIGH SPEND PER PAX

The airport said: “Retail revenue growth, led by retail concessions and catering reflected the strong traffic performance and longer dwell due to our call to gate initiative. Retail concessions were boosted by higher transaction value per participating passenger.”

Heathrow Chief Executive Officer John Holland-Kaye commented: “2018 will be a year for the record books. England’s footballers have made the nation proud, we’ve had the best summer sunshine in years and Parliament voted overwhelmingly to expand Heathrow.

“We’re proud to be the front door of a nation flying high and we’ll continue delivering a great passenger service and the global trading links that will keep the UK thriving for decades to come.”