Bosses at Heathrow have labelled the airport's performance in the first half of 2013 as "encouraging".

Figures released earlier today (July 24th) showed that 34.4 million passengers flew from the five-terminal facility between January 1st and June 30th - a year-on-year increase of 2.4 per cent.

In addition to this, the airport saw its revenues rise by 9.2 per cent over the same period.

The global aviation industry has been blighted by the recent spell of economic volatility and airports have been forced to cut their cloth accordingly. Earlier this week, Heathrow announced it can make operational savings of £427 million if it follows its new Alternative Business Plan.

Despite the challenging nature of the market, Heathrow remains the busiest airport on earth and chief executive officer Colin Matthews is optimistic for the future.

"Our earnings support the investment made in Heathrow and that continues with the new Terminal 2: The Queen's Terminal opening in June next year," he commented.