Heathrow has seen a record number of eight million people use its airport in August in a busy summer for holidaymakers – thanks to Taylor Swift.
The airport said it set a new monthly record for passenger numbers and also saw its busiest day last month, with 269,000 passengers on August 18.
It is on course to serve 30 million passengers between June and September, which would be the most for that period in the airport’s history.
Heathrow highlighted Spain, Greece, Italy and Turkey as being popular summer holiday destinations last month.
The airport said Taylor Swift concerts brought in an additional 40,000 passengers this summer, with fans passing through its terminals for the European leg of her Eras Tour.
Heathrow has seen a record number of eight million people use its airport in August in a busy summer for holidaymakers
Swifties queue outside Wembley Stadium in north west London in August
Swift performs on stage during the The Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium on August 15
Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine and Taylor Swift perform onstage in August
Swifties pictured arriving outside Wembley Stadium for the Eras Tour in August
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: ‘I’m grateful to team Heathrow for their preparation and dedication to delivering an extraordinary getaway for more passengers than ever before, maintaining strong service levels during what has been our busiest summer.
‘For the past four months we have broken several new records, demonstrating our ability to open a world of opportunity for more people, cargo, business and the UK economy.’
Swifties travelled to the UK from around the world to see her last tour, from the Philippines, Australia and the States, with one fan coming from Texas with his wife to see the star before he goes blind.
But many struggled to find accommodation as hotel prices skyrocketed.
Taylor Swift’s earth-shattering Eras Tour was so popular economists believe the shows stopped the UK’s rate of inflation from dropping below two per cent.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, told MailOnline in August: ‘The Taylor Swift effect also appears to have a slight hand in these figures, as the main downwards pressure on inflation was a fall in hotel room costs from June, when she was on her UK tour.
‘Pop star Pink’s UK appearances also saw spikes in prices in some cities in June.
‘It now seems more unlikely that the surge-pricing effect will turn into a recurrent inflationary pressure, as it clearly depends on the brightness of the stars.’
It comes after budget airline Ryanair announced a u-turn in its refusal to sell package holidays as the company battles to attract more tourists.
Taylor Swift fans outside Wembley Stadium in London show off their bracelets
Swift on stage during her UK leg of the Eras Tour in August
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, has long been opposed to selling package holidays, saying it would be a distraction from the company’s main objective of dominating European short-haul travel.
But last week, Mr O’Leary revealed he would review the situation once Ryanair has established as much growth as possible from its Boeing aircraft fleet expansion.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: ‘I wouldn’t rule out setting up a holidays division.
‘The holiday product is probably a reasonable way of charging higher fares and yields and for wrapping it into a package.’
It comes after the airline reported in July that profits had slumped by almost 50 per cent this summer.
Price-savvy customers delayed booking summer holidays with the budget carrier saying this had contributed to the 46 per cent drop in its profits to €360m (£303m), compared with the previous year.
Average plane fares fell by 15 per cent to €42 (£35) and Ryanair’s typical fare in June was €41.93, down from €49.07 the previous year.
Meanwhile, rivals easyJet and Jet2 have been reaping the rewards of package holidays this year, highlighting the value of a package offering for customers.
Mr O’Leary added accommodation in Spain, Italy and Greece had become more expensive, which might have pushed more people towards opting for holiday packages.
He told The Telegraph easyJet Holidays had been ‘reasonably successful’ since its relaunch in 2019 under chief executive Johan Lundgren.
However, the Ryanair boss said easyjet had been forced into the move because of its focus on airports such as London Gatwick and Paris Charles de Gaulle, where operating slots are costly and hard to come by.
Mr O’Leary praised Jet2’s operations, but said ‘there is very little seat only or scheduled services’ and ‘they have no presence outside the UK’.
Despite the slump in profits, passenger numbers for Ryanair rose 10 per cent to 55.5million, resulting in its overall revenues falling just one per cent to €363billion.
Passenger numbers are predicted to increase by eight per cent this year.