Heathrow 'crucial to long-haul market'

Heathrow Airport is a crucial part of the British long-haul flights sector, which is a growing portion of the travel industry, a spokesperson has claimed.

A representative from BAA Heathrow said that around two-thirds of long-haul flights operate from the London airport.

This is becoming increasingly important as the travel market continues to grow, with Donna Casey claiming that both business flights and transatlantic flights have seen a year-on-year increase in frequency in 2007.

Ms Casey said that Heathrow is the only airport in the UK that acts as a hub for transferring passengers on long-haul trips.

"Heathrow is the UK's only hub airport, and as a hub airport it has a high proportion of transfer passengers (34 per cent)," she said.

"It is for this reason that around two-thirds of the UK's long-haul flights operate from Heathrow."

The most popular destinations for long-haul flights, according to Ms Casey, are New York, Dubai, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Sydney.