Yahoo Finance Heathrow airport says it will cut dividend payouts amid torrid year
Heathrow airport has suggested it will suspend dividends until 2022, as the beleaguered travel hub continues to reel from the impact of the coronavirus.
In a submission to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) it said it would not pay dividends this year or next in return for leniency from its lenders.
Air travel has been among the hardest hit industries, as widespread lockdowns hit both business travel and holiday plans. Foot traffic in airports has plummeted.
The airport has previously laid out the impact of the “near collapse” in passenger numbers, with traffic down 80% and losses of £1.5bn ($2bn) in 2020.
According to reports in The Times, Heathrow has increased demands for a bailout to £2.7bn, alongside saying it may continue payouts of around £400m a year to shareholders by 2022.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has previously rejected its request for a bailout.
The airport has paid its shareholders about £4bn in dividends since 2012, while piling up debt.
Yahoo Finance approached Heathrow for comment.
READ MORE: Heathrow to charge drivers £5 for drop-offs as airport loses £5m a day
The news follows plans released last week which revealed the airport wants to charge drivers £5 to drop off passengers outside its terminals.
It announced it was “exploring” a fee for vehicle access to terminal departure forecourts on Thursday.
Heathrow chiefs defended the move as a fundraising measure to save jobs, as well as encouraging passengers to use public transport.
At the end of October, it announced it is no longer Europe’s biggest airport, as it had been overtaken on passenger numbers by Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport for the first time, with Amsterdam Schiphol and Frankfurt “close behind.”
Passenger numbers between July and September nosedived more than 84% compared to the same period the year before. Heathrow recorded a total of 18.97 million passengers in the year to the end of September, while Charles de Gaulle had 19.27 million.
At the time, bosses warned the UK was playing catch-up on coronavirus testing for passengers.
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