Snow chaos cost BAA £24 million
Sunday, 12 Jan, 2011
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The snow and ice which created havoc for the UK’s travellers at Christmas cost airport operator BAA £24 million.
In its December 2010 business commentary, the Spanish-owned operator, which came up against much criticism for its perceived poor handling of the weather crisis, said group passenger numbers were down 10.9% to 7.2 million in December compared to last December.
This, it said, was “almost entirely due to the disruptive effects of the coldest December since records began in the UK”.
Heathrow’s passenger numbers fell by 9.5%. BAA says that had the poor weather not occurred, underlying performance was broadly flat.
Edinburgh and Southampton suffered the most. They had the largest percentage decline in passengers, at 18.4% and 22% respectively.
BAA highlights the other setbacks for it in the year – the ash cloud and two major BA strike periods – and says that these events are thought to have caused the loss of 3.6 million passengers across the operator’s airport portfolio.
BAA’s statement says: “All of BAA’s airports were affected by severe weather to some extent in December and the resulting disruption is estimated to have affected profits across the BAA group by approximately £24m.
“The approximate financial cost by airport, measured in terms of the reduction in profit, was £19m at Heathrow, £1m at Stansted and £4m across the group’s four other UK airports of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Southampton.”
BAA chief executive Colin Matthews, who hit the headlines in December after foregoing his bonus payout in a bid to mollify outraged travellers, said: “The coldest December on record closed airports around the world but we must carefully examine the snow plan agreed with airlines earlier in the year and strengthen it to protect against such unprecedented weather.
“We are sorry for the flights that had to be cancelled as a result of the snow. The cost of any disruption to BAA’s airports is significant and a strong financial incentive for us to continue to make Heathrow more resilient.
“There were many challenges in 2010, ranging from poor weather and security threats through to industrial action and the cloud of volcanic ash.
“But we have continued our £1 billion-a-year investment programme and are encouraged by Heathrow’s underlying positive performance during challenging economic times.
“Heathrow has improved considerably in recent years, and we are determined to put December behind us and win back confidence by improving customer service, upgrading our terminals and doing whatever it takes to improve people’s journeys."
An enquiry is due to take place into the extended closure of Heathrow during the adverse weather, chaired by BAA non-executive director David Begg, and it results will be published in March.
by Dinah Hatch
Dinah
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