European busiest airport London Heathrow Airport is shutting down terminal 4 for a year. Due to the less demand for air travel due to the pandemic, the airport has been bearing a huge loss in its operational cost. As per the Heathrow airport, the volume of passengers has fallen down 88% in the month of November.
Heathrow airport had earlier shut down the terminal in May 2019, due to 1st wave of the pandemic. The closure of the terminal will affect the flight to arrive and depart for some airlines such as Air France, Etihad Airways, and KLM that will now be operating from Terminal 2.
With the decision of shutting the terminal, Heathrow will be losing the year-long record as the busiest airport in Europe. This overturns the record of Paris Charles De Gaulle airport as the busiest airport in Europe.
The Heathrow airport said, the terminal will be closing down until the end of 2021 as the pandemic has affected air travel. That brings the drastic down in the passenger traveling by air. England is under the phase of 2nd lockdown since November, which has affected more in the volume of air travel to and from London Airport.
The airport group has started legal action against Britain’s decision to end tax-free shopping for tourists from Jan. 1, which it said will result in retail job losses at the airport, and further harm a business already suffering from COVID-19.