Traffic at UK airports slows as passenger numbers decline
13 Dec 2008
UK airports operator BAA said one million fewer passengers passed through its seven airports last month as compared with November last year. It said that the volume of passengers in November dropped by 8.9 per cent compared with the same month last year.
Total traffic is down 2.4 per cent for the year.
Owned by the Spanish construction firm Ferrovial, BAA owns seven UK airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh.
The start of a reduced winter schedule showed that the "underlying trend had worsened," the BAA said. But it held riots in Thailand and an Air France strike as also responsible for the sluggish start to the winter season.
BAA said 9.8 million people travelled through its airports in November, down from 10.8 million. This year, the airports have handled 134.6 million passengers. But it said it remained confident passengers would return.
Amongst its assets, Heathrow remained the jewel in the crown with traffic down just 4.8 per cent, as compared to the same month last year. This could be because additional services from the US under the open skies programme offset slowdowns elsewhere.
Gatwick, which is up for sale, was down 13.5% and Stansted was down 13.2%. There was a 15.6% decline at Glasgow, an 11.5% drop at Aberdeen and 7.8% at Edinburgh.
BAA's other airport, Southampton, was down 9.7%.
