UK airport passenger numbers fell during Olympics
Passenger numbers at UK airports actually fell during the Olympics compared to the previous year.
The Civil Aviation Authority has published the results of its 2012 passenger survey, which shows passenger numbers fell between July and September in 2012 compared to the same time in 2011.
But despite a fall in numbers, more than 800,000 passengers passed through for Olympic-related journeys, with 54% of these and Heathrow and 18% at Gatwick.
71% of these Olympic journeys were for leisure with 29% for business purposes – which would include many of the 10,000 athletes who attended the Games.
It also found that Heathrow is the only airport surveyed in 2012 where the majority of passengers were foreign residents – 59%. Exeter had the smallest proportion of foreign residents using it at 9%.
Heathrow had the highest proportion of connecting passengers using the airport, up by three percentage points to 37% since 2011.
London City had the largest proportion of passengers travelling for business – at 54% – but this was a 9% drop since 2010 when the airport was last surveyed as more leisure passengers are now using it.
The highest proportion of leisure passengers were at East Midlands at 91%.
Iain Osborne, group director of regulatory policy at the CAA, said: "Last year’s Olympics put London and the UK in the spotlight and today’s survey results show the impact the Games had on passenger numbers at our airports. Almost a million visitors flew into London for the Olympics, but overall passenger number s fell."
Diane
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