Heathrow said a “high level” of business travellers worried about new COVID testing rules have been cancelling flights – as it reported monthly traffic numbers still far short of pre-pandemic levels.

Britain’s biggest airport said the passengers were worried about being trapped overseas.

Heathrow said it was used by just under 3.1 million passengers in November, four times the total for the same month last year but 60% down from 2019.

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That was despite the reopening of travel to the US – and blamed on new government-imposed restrictions dampening passenger confidence.

The 60% drop compared to pre-pandemic levels was worse than the 56% fall seen in October.

Heathrow said it had seen a “high level of cancellations by business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas” because of the introduction of pre-departure testing for all UK arrivals.

The airport said that demonstrated the potential harm of travel restrictions to the economy.

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Heathrow urged ministers to reduce restrictions as soon as it is safe to do so and to allow UK nationals coming from red-list countries to isolate at home – rather than in quarantine hotels – so that they can be reunited with loved ones for Christmas.

The airport expects a slow start to next year, projecting that it will see around 45 million passengers – just over half of pre-pandemic levels.

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It said a full recovery could only come about when all restrictions are removed and there is no risk of them being reimposed – a scenario “likely to be several years away”.

Heathrow chief exexcutive John Holland-Kaye said: “By allowing Brits to isolate at home, ministers can make sure they are reunited with their loved ones this Christmas.

“It would send a strong signal that restrictions on travel will be removed as soon as safely possible to give passengers the confidence to book for 2022, opening up thousands of new jobs for local people at Heathrow.”

Earlier this week, travel giant Tui warned that bookings had weakened in response to worries about the Omicron variant though it expects to see a bounce-back in the summer to levels similar to 2019.

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