Passenger numbers between Heathrow Airport and the Middle East plummeted by more than 51% in March as airspace closures across the Persian Gulf and the threat of Iranian missile and kamikaze drone strikes disrupted flights and frightened passengers away.
Around 600 million passengers who passed through Heathrow in March 2025 were headed to the Middle East, but from the start of the joint US/Israeli offensive on Iran, those numbers dropped to just 294 million in March 2026.
But while passengers steered clear of the Middle East, Heathrow saw a boost in passenger traffic to other key long-haul markets, notably on non-stop flights to Asia/Pacific, which witnessed a 31% surge in passenger traffic in March.
Africa also saw a healthy increase in non-stop passenger numbers, rising from 262 million passengers in March 2025 to 323 million passengers in March 2026.
Overall, Heathrow reported a year-on-year increase of 6.6 million passengers from March 2025 to March 2026 despite. On Monday, however, the airport warned that the “outlook for the next few months is uncertain, due to the ongoing conflict.”
The Middle East has long been an incredibly important market for Heathrow, and even as Persian Gulf airlines rebuild their networks, the West London airport remains incredibly well served by airlines in the region.
Emirates and Qatar Airways are both already flying to Heathrow up to five times per day, while Etihad Airways is operating four daily flights between Heathrow and its hub in Abu Dhabi.
Heathrow is now closely monitoring what happens next in the Iran conflict and how passenger behavior might shift. In March, Heathrow saw a spike of 10% in transit passengers passing through the airport, as passengers rebooked away from transfers in the Middle East.
This shift, however, is likely to be temporary. In any case, Heathrow says it is only able to absorb a limited amount of transit demand because its runway slots are completely full.
Thankfully, Heathrow did, however, move to calm jitters over the availability of jet fuel due to the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, saying that the conflict has not yet had any impact on operations.
A spokesperson for the airport said it would “liaise with Government and airlines to protect passengers’ journeys.”
