Arrests on an aircraft and Heathrow Airport from 2021 to 2025

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.25.049457

I note you seek access to the following information:

This is a request for the following information in relation to operations at Heathrow airport.

For each of the calendar years respectively 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021.

1. How many arrests were made at Heathrow airport and what were the arrests on suspicion of.
2. How many arrests were made on aircraft at Heathrow airport and what were the arrests on suspicion of.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. However, some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 24(2) – National Security
Section 31(3) – Law Enforcement

Please see below an excel reports containing the requested Heathrow airport data, which has been extracted from the Custody database. This outlines the total number of arrests along with the nature of the offence committed. In addition, data has been provided for offences and arrests which occurred on an aircraft. These have all been broken down by full calendar years from 2021 to 2024, and part yearly data for 2025 covering the period 01 January 2025 to 30 November 2025.

You should ensure that you refer to the Notes page of the report to allow the data to be interpreted correctly.