Heathrow Airport is celebrating after posting a record breaking year for passenger traffic, reports Air and Business Travel News.
Britain's busiest airport had 69.4 million people pass through its terminals in 2011, representing 99.2 per cent of its total operational capacity.
European and transatlantic travel accounted for the largest increase in passengers, up 7.6 and 7.5 per cent respectively. The airport carried 28.5 million European travellers and 15.8 million transatlantic ones.
Domestic travel actually fell by 2.9 per cent to 4.7 million passengers, but nonetheless, the BAA-owned airport made ground in other significant areas.
As well as being one of the UK's best served airports for services such as hotel bookings and car hire, it was revealed that Heathrow is improving on becoming one of the most punctual.
The Press Association says that just 21 per cent of Heathrow's flights left 15 minutes or later after their scheduled departure time last year; beating the figure of 29 per cent experienced in 2010. According to BAA chief executive Colin Matthews, this makes punctuality in 2011, the "best in over a decade".
Matthews added: "BAA delivered a strong operational performance in 2011 with record traffic levels and high service standards at Heathrow. We continued to invest significantly in further improving our airports during 2011, particularly on the new Heathrow Terminal 2."