UK's Heathrow airport posts first-half profit on steady travel demand

(Reuters) -Britain's Heathrow Airport reported a first-half profit on Wednesday, boosted by robust passenger traffic as travel demand remained steadfast, while urging the new government to consider policies to help the country better compete with European travel hubs.

Britain's busiest airport said nearly 40 million travellers had passed through its gates in the six months to June, and the airport was prepared for travel in summer, a busy period, while maintaining its core profit forecast of 1.94 billion pounds ($1.21 billion) for the year.

Heathrow reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of 178 million pounds ($229.4 million) for the first half compared to a loss of 139 million pounds a year earlier, while revenue slipped 2.9% to 1.69 billion pounds.

Heathrow warned that "competitive drags hang over the airport with bureaucratic tax and border policies pushing passengers" to other destinations, and encouraged Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government to back Britain's aviation industry.

The Labour government is hoping to attract tens of billions of pounds of private capital into new and growing industries to help speed up the economy.

Heathrow said on Wednesday that it was conducting an internal review of its work so far and the current status of the sector to inform its plans of running the airport and creating capacity.

It had averted union strikes in May over proposed plans to outsource hundreds of roles after discussions, while it is also clearing shortfalls in its settlement with the Civil Aviation Authority over current regulatory framework.

($1 = 0.7758 pounds)

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)