Britain's Heathrow says business travel lagging in COVID bounceback

London's Heathrow Airport, Britain's main travel hub, expects passenger numbers this year to be at the upper end of its forecasts, as demand continues to bounce back after COVID restrictions despite business travel lagging. Heathrow, owned by Spanish group Ferrovial, Qatar Investment Authority and other investors, forecasts it will carry 58-73m passengers in 2023, which is around 90% of pre-pandemic levels at the upper end of the range. Pent-up demand for leisure travel after three years of COVID-19 restrictions is driving passenger numbers, said Heathrow's CEJohn Holland-Kaye on Thursday. "Business demand is probably the only area that is lower than we would have expected," he said. Business travellers represented 28% of passenger numbers during the final three months of 2022, compared with 32% in the same period pre-pandemic, he said. "What we're seeing there, is a lot of consulting companies, banks, tech companies, who are big travellers, are pulling back on travel as they're making the cost reductions," he said. In 2022, Heathrow reported passenger numbers of 62m, in line with forecasts, representing 75% of pre-pandemic levels. The company's annual adjusted loss before tax narrowed to GBP684m from the GBP1.27b loss it made a year earlier, when COVID-19 travel restrictions were still in place at the beginning of the year.<br/>