London Heathrow airport will reopen Terminal 4 on June 14, 2022, two years after it was closed due to decreased passenger traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qatar Airways will be the first carrier to return to Terminal 4, followed by 30 other airlines.
“While we are still years away from passenger numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels, reopening Terminal 4 will give airlines at Heathrow extra space across the airport, helping them manage the impact additional travel documents continue to have on check in times,” Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye announced in a statement.
The reopening of Terminal 4 will free up space in Heathrow’s T1, T2 and T5 ahead of summer peak. Additionally, Heathrow is currently recruiting 1,000 new security personnel as part of a plan to maintain smooth passenger service throughout the summer.
The UK’s busiest airports, including Heathrow, have been facing long queues as well as numerous flight cancellations and delays due to staff shortages for the past few weeks.
Heathrow now forecasts that a total of 53 million passengers will travel through the airport in 2022, an increase of 16% compared to previous assumptions. The airport said previously that it expected passenger traffic to reach 45.5 million in 2022.
