10 September 2009

Traffic down at UK airports

BAAÃ¢â¬â¢s seven UK airports handled a total of 14.4 million passengers in August, a drop of 3.1% on the same month last year.

Chief executive Colin Matthews warned that the rest of 2009 remains challenging.

Stansted recorded a drop of 7.8%, largely down to airline capacity reductions, and SouthamptonÃ¢â¬â¢s figures fell by 3.7%.

Glasgow recorded a 13.4% decrease in August, and Aberdeen was 9.8% down on last year.

However, Heathrow recorded its busiest ever August Ã¢â¬' up 0.3% - fuelled by a strong leisure market and its network of international routes.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœHeathrowÃ¢â¬â¢s traffic performance in July and August was good,Ã¢â¬~ said Matthews.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe airport benefits from being the hub of a strong international route network, which is important both socially and economically

Ã¢â¬ÅâœIndustry conditions remain difficult. A continuation of the improving trend at Heathrow depends on business travellers re-establishing face-to-face contact with global markets."

BAA said Heathrow saw a 19% increase in traffic to India.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe people and communities who use these routes to visit friends and family here and around the world count on Heathrow as the only London airport that serves India,Ã¢â¬~ said BAA.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe number of passengers transferring at Heathrow continues to rise, with travellers taking advantage of the shorter waiting times between connections at Heathrow, which come from the high frequency of services and the improved terminal facilities.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe poundÃ¢â¬â¢s position against the dollar and euro has also helped HeathrowÃ¢â¬â¢s transfer business. Airline load factors grew by 2.7% to 81%.Ã¢â¬~

Meanwhile, Gatwick recorded a 4.6% reduction against August 2008, but was the only airport to grow its domestic market (1.2%) and its European scheduled traffic grew by 5.6%.

EdinburghÃ¢â¬â¢s numbers are up for the fifth consecutive month (4.8%), helped by new low-cost scheduled services to Europe.

BAA said for the group as a whole, the number of air transport movements in August was 5.2% lower than a year ago "when airlines were only beginning to respond to the downturn in traffic by cutting services".

By Bev Fearis