Weather hits BAA figures
Bad wintry weather across the UK and Europe has hit passenger figures at BAA’s six UK airports.
According to the November figures from the airports operator, the fog, snow and strong winds hit passenger numbers by around 130,000.
Without the weather disruption, the airports would have enjoyed a 2.7% increase in passenger numbers.
As it was, they saw November passenger numbers rise by just 1% year on year to 7.9 million.
Domestic traffic was down 3.6% due mainly to weather disruption.
Snow disruption at Edinburgh airport meant passenger numbers were down by 3.9%, and Southampton saw a 3.2% drop due to snow at the end of the month.
At Stansted numbers fell 7.6%, but BAA said this was largely down to a drop in low-cost airline capacity.
Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA, said: “It has been a tough month for passengers with the worst snow for decades but people understand that safety comes first.
“We have invested in winter preparations and have worked around the clock to keep our airports running. But it is not just about clearing snow, it’s also about landing and take-off rates and weather at destination airports.
“Heathrow and Stansted have remained open throughout, but elsewhere and across Europe some airport closures were inevitable.â€
Heathrow saw passenger numbers rise by 4.3% to 5.24 million, the fifth consecutive monthly record.
BAA said the aviation industry has continued its efficiency drive with a continuing rise in load factors at Heathrow (up 1%) to 71.7% and at group level (up 1.3%) to 72.1%.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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