January 2008 saw a two per cent drop in the number of passengers using one of the seven UK airports owned by BAA, although numbers were up at Edinburgh and at London Gatwick.

Overall, 10.1 million travellers passed through one of the airport operator’s sites

Passengers 1% up at Gatwick, 1.1% down at Heathrow

2.2 million passengers used Gatwick, equating to a slim one per cent rise. At Heathrow, however, passenger traffic was down 1.1 per cent – a drop attributed by BAA to factors including the well-publicised British Airways Boeing 777 crash, as well as to the late January weather.

Passengers 3.9% up at Edinburgh, 8.1% down at Glasgow

3.9 per cent more passengers used Edinburgh last month than in January 2007. With 558,000 passengers passing through, it stands at the busiest airport in Scotland. Glasgow, however, saw an 8.1 per cent plummet.

A similar story was evident at Aberdeen, with 4.7 per cent fewer passengers using it.

9.3 Fewer Passengers at London Stansted

The most significant drop, however, was recorded at London Stansted, which, with 1.45 million passengers having flown to/ from it, saw a 9.3 per cent descent. BAA says this is due to the reduced services operated by Air Berlin and Ryanair from the Essex hub.

Finally, Southampton, which was used by three per cent less passengers.

5.8% Fewer Domestic Flights

In respect of the flights operated, the largest drop was seen in the domestic category, which shed 5.8 per cent. Charter flights to Europe lost 5.6 per cent – scheduled flights, 1.7. And services to the North Atlantic dropped by 1.4 per cent. Far east services, however, increased by 18 per cent.

Passenger Flights 3.2% down, Cargo Flights 7.2% up

In all, 3.2 per cent less air transport movements occurred at these airports last month. Cargo operations, however, increased by 7.2 per cent – a situation especially prominent at London Heathrow, where freight flights occurred 10.3 per cent more frequently.

Source – Airport International’s London Reporter

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