Heathrow wins as shops cast a spell on record fliers

Bigger, fuller planes, a surge in cargo and a sprinkling of magic at the tills from Harry Potter helped Heathrow to enjoy its “best year ever” in 2016 with record passengers and higher profits.

The airport served 75.7 million passengers and underlying earnings beat expectations to rise 4.8% to £1.7 billion.

The Brexit-fuelled plunge in the pound triggered an almost-7% surge in the cash which customers splashed out at airport shops. A chunk of that spending, chief executive John Holland-Kaye said, went on wands: “Our new Harry Potter store is getting twice the footfall of any other mainstream store — far more than the likes of Chanel.

“Some buy handbags, some buy wands, but people are taking advantage of the exchange rate. For outbound passengers it’s better value to spend at Heathrow than at their destination, and for [tourists] it’s cheaper than the prices that they get at home.”

Heathrow also saw cargo volumes rise 3%, driven by cheap exports. The airport has been given the green-light to build a third runway, due to open in eight years’ time.