Heathrow boss will need to be light on his feet as fresh investors eye returns

The airport hopes for a bumper 2024 - but are its new owners happy about the fading prospects for a third runway?

Are the good times coming back for Heathrow? The next 12 months may define a fresh era: new ownership, a new chief executive and a line apparently drawn under the Covid-induced slump. Now, the London airport believes, 2024 will bring record passenger numbers.

Aviation does have a track record in proving the forecasters wrong. Exactly 10 years ago, Heathrow's bosses and shareholders would surely have looked forward to a visit from the ghost of Christmas yet to come. The government-appointed Airports Commission's interim report had just landed, declaring that London needed a new runway and - save a delay for political expediency - all but coming out for Heathrow.