Heathrow has reported an increase of 7.7 per cent for year-on-year passenger figures for August.

The airport claims to have had close to seven million passengers in August. Similar to July, it reports the growth as resulting from lower traffic during the London Olympics last year. Adjusting for this, it gives growth for both August and July as one per cent.

August's load factor was said to be high, with an average of 82.7 per cent - 2.6 per cent higher than last year.

The size of aircraft continues to go up as the average plane had 204.2 seats - up 3.4 per cent in year-on-year comparisons. Boarding numbers on each flight were up by 6.9 per cent to 168.9 passengers.

Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews said: "Larger, fuller aircraft continue to contribute to rising passenger number at Heathrow. However, don't imagine this will solve the UK's hub capacity crisis."

Mr Matthews also said a bigger airport can help keep the UK better connected internationally.