Demand at Heathrow has continued to grow, with traffic up 2.3 per cent to a record 56.9 million passengers.

Service quality was also ahead of other European hubs during a record summer, with five separate days where Heathrow welcomed over a quarter of a million passengers per day.

Robust financial results saw revenue up 4.1 per cent to £2.1 billion and EBITDA up 4.4 per cent to £1.2 billion.

John Holland-Kaye, chief executive, Heathrow, said: “Expansion at Heathrow fills the gap in the UK’s long-term economic plan, by connecting all of Britain to global growth.

“Today’s strong set of results demonstrates that we’re moving closer to our goal of giving passengers the best airport service in the world and that we’re well-placed to make the private investment to fund expansion.

“Let’s make it happen.”