London Heathrow lifts target, aided by Taylor Swift tourists

London Heathrow Airport raised its forecast for passenger traffic this year as the UK hub processed record numbers of travelers during the peak summer season. Heathrow now expects a total of 83.8m passengers to pass through its doors in 2024, up from a previous prediction of 82.8m, it said on Wednesday while releasing third-quarter results. The summer was the busiest period ever with more than 30m passengers flying through Heathrow between June and September, according to the airport. There was also a surge in late summer flights because of music artists appearing in concerts, attracting people to the capital, the airport said. Among major performers in London this summer was US singer Taylor Swift. “We were seeing passengers traveling through Heathrow for all kinds of reasons, whether to see their families and friends, for holidays or for business trips and also to see Taylor Swift and going to Paris for the Olympics,” CFO Sally Ding said in an interview.<br/>