BAA airports handle record number of passengers
BAA’s airports handled a record 69.4m passengers last year, a 5% increase over 2010, and the company saw its losses reduced to £255.8m from £316.6m the previous year.
Heathrow was operating at full capacity, however passenger number at Stansted fell by 2.8% to 18million.
BAA reported a 9.9% rise in revenue, which it said reflected higher tariffs and continued strong retail performance. The net retail income per passenger rose from £5.29 to £5.58.
Chief executive officer Colin Matthews said: "BAA delivered a strong operational performance in 2011 with record traffic levels and high service standards at Heathrow.
"Last year saw Heathrow’s best punctuality performance in over a decade and the international Airport Service Quality passenger survey showed that 70% of Heathrow’s passengers rated their experience as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’, compared with just 41% when the Ferrovial-led consortium bought BAA in 2006.
"We continued to invest significantly in further improving our airports during 2011, particularly on the new Heathrow Terminal 2."
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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