Heathrow airport plunged to an annual £2bn loss in 2020 as the pandemic closed borders and the government restricted most international travel, underlining the impact of Covid-19 on aviation. Britain’s largest airport said the number of passengers who passed through slumped to 22.1 million last year, more than half of whom travelled in January and February, a fall of 73% compared with a year earlier and the smallest annual total since 1975. Cargo volumes also fell by 28% during 2020, although some dedicated cargo flights helped the airport to offset some of the lost passenger travel. However, Heathrow’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said he thought it was “very likely” that people would be able to go on summer holidays, following the prime minister’s plan to allow international travel to resume from 17 May, as part of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown. “There will be huge pent-up demand to travel,” Holland-Kaye told the Guardian. “Even if it’s a month or so later the recovery is coming.” However, Heathrow’s forecasts do not show it reaching 2019 levels of activity until at least 2024, he said. It has enough cash to survive without any revenues for a year. Heathrow said it had acted quickly last year as coronavirus surged to cut its operating costs by slashing pay, closing one runway and two terminals, and raising money but warned that airports had very high fixed costs. Heathrow complained that government policies had effectively closed borders but that it had received no government support other than furlough. It said it had not benefited from business rates relief, unlike other airports, as well as retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. Holland-Kaye called for the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to extend business rates relief in the budget next week to large airports for both the current and upcoming tax years. The policy would cost £232m for Heathrow alone. Business rates relief is capped at £8m in England, meaning larger airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester have been forced to pay the tax. Holland-Kaye said it was “completely discriminatory to exclude the major airports”. “Even large companies should get support when their business is wiped out by Covid and government policy,” he said. The company has warned that Britain’s economic recovery will be held back until long-haul passenger flights can restart, including to key markets such as the US. Airlines and travel companies reported a surge in holiday bookings on Tuesday, after Boris Johnson’s announcement about England’s roadmap for the easing of coronavirus restrictions. Companies including easyJet, Ryanair, Tui and Thomas Cook said there had been a jump in bookings to destinations including Spain and Greece after the prime minister’s announcement, although this remains subject to review. The green light for international travel is also dependent on the continued success of the vaccination programme and no resurgence in coronavirus cases. Holland-Kaye said Heathrow had actively sought to increase the number of cargo flights during the lull in passenger travel, and that the airport was handling more flights carrying pharmaceutical and medical products, including vaccines and personal protective equipment. British Airways and Qatar Airways were among the passenger airlines that had repurposed planes to carry cargo.