London Heathrow, for decades the busiest airport in Europe, has lost the title to Paris Charles de Gaulle.
The revelation was made by the chief executive of Heathrow, John Holland-Kaye, as he announced heavy financial results for the third quarter of 2020 – covering the peak summer months of July, August and September.
Passenger numbers for the quarter fell by 84 per cent. The airport lost £1.5bn in the first nine months of the year, an average of £5.5m per day.
Mr Holland-Kaye said: “Paris has overtaken Heathrow as Europe’s largest airport for the first time ever, and Frankfurt and Amsterdam are quickly gaining ground.
“Britain is falling behind because we’ve been too slow to embrace passenger testing. European leaders acted quicker and now their economies are reaping the benefits.”
Heathrow and other players in the UK aviation industry have been calling for coronavirus testing to provide an alternative to quarantine since April 2020.
Testing centres are now operating for outbound passengers at the airports only currently functioning terminals, 2 and 5.
The UK abandoned targeted quarantine in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, but reimposed it on 8 June for arrivals from all foreign countries except Dublin.