Relative to other UK airports, Heathrow benefited from its greater exposure to the business travel sector, while the other UK airports in the Group depend more on the currently weak UK outbound leisure market, which continues to be adversely affected by the continuing economic uncertainty that has led to casualties among smaller UK tour operators.

The main driver of growth at Heathrow is European scheduled traffic, which was up by 10.4% on the back of an 8.3% increase in seat capacity compared with August 2009. At Stansted, reductions in airline seat capacity contributed to a 6.1% drop in passengers carried. Glasgow also saw a sharp decrease in capacity (-8.4%) which is the major factor behind a 9.4% drop in passengers.

Edinburgh's traffic reduced by 0.2% overall, but European traffic grew by 9.4%. Aberdeen and Southampton recorded decreases of 4.0% and 1.0% respectively.

In total, BAA's UK airports handled 0.5% more air transport movements (landings and take-offs) than a year earlier (Heathrow + 3.5%) and a total of 13.7% more cargo tonnage, with Heathrow up by 14.3%.

Cargo tonnage at BAA's UK airports is now 2.8% above its pre-recession peak, reflecting the strength of recovery in the air cargo market.