Heathrow Airport says it has sufficient cash reserves to last 12 months even if it receives no passengers.
London’s main airport made the announcement when releasing its first quarter results, when it made a pre-tax loss of £41m (US$51m) as passenger numbers tumbled due to COVID-19.
During the quarter, passenger numbers were down 18.3% to 14.6 million and are expected to be down 97% in April.
The airport says management responded, cutting costs by 30% through reduced management pay, renegotiating all contracts and consolidating operations.
Heathrow says it is working with partners to establish a Common International Standard for safe air travel to help the economy recover after COVID-19.
John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow Airport, said, “Heathrow is proud to serve Britain by remaining open for repatriating UK citizens and critical supplies of PPE. When we have beaten this virus, we will need to get Britain flying again so that the economy can recover as fast as possible. That is why we are calling on the UK government to take a lead in setting a Common International Standard for safe air travel.”