BAA`s seven UK airports handled 11.5 million passengers in April, an increase of 0.8% on the same month last year…
BAA`s seven UK airports handled 11.5 million passengers in April, an increase of 0.8% on the same month last year. The lower than usual growth was primarily the result of the early Easter. Underlying growth, calculated by combining March and April figures to eliminate the Easter timing effect, was 4.2%.
Despite the Easter effect, the only major area to show a decline in April compared to the same month last year, was the short haul charter market (-21%). European scheduled traffic was up 1.8%, North Atlantic traffic was unchanged, while Other Long Haul routes continued a trend of strong growth with a 6.9% gain. Domestic services attracted 1% more passengers.
All the airports were impacted by the early Easter. Heathrow dipped 0.8% while Gatwick recorded a gain of 0.5%, helped by growing low cost services and new long haul routes. Stansted gained 3.4%, while new routes and additional frequencies at Southampton enabled a 19.5% increase. At BAA`s three Scottish airports a combined increase of 2.9% was recorded. Edinburgh recorded a 3.9% increase, Glasgow 0.7%, and Aberdeen 5.8%.
BAA`s airports handled 2.7% more air transport movements in April, while cargo tonnage was 4.6% higher than a year ago.
| BAA Traffic Summary April 2005 | ||||||
| Air Transport Movements | Month | % change | *12 months to Apr 05 | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 39,096 | 1.4 | 470,084 | 1.6 | ||
| Gatwick | 19,724 | 4.7 | 245,983 | 4.6 | ||
| Stansted | 14,584 | -1.1 | 176,636 | 0.4 | ||
| London | 73,404 | 1.7 | 892,703 | 2.2 | ||
| Southampton | 3,619 | 19.7 | 38,558 | 8.8 | ||
| Glasgow | 7,438 | 0.7 | 93,527 | 4.7 | ||
| Edinburgh | 9,765 | 1.9 | 112,747 | 3.8 | ||
| Aberdeen | 7,382 | 9.3 | 84,868 | 7.1 | ||
| Scottish | 24,585 | 3.7 | 291,142 | 5.0 | ||
| BAA Total | 101,608 | 2.7 | 1,222,403 | 3.0 | ||
| BAA TRAFFIC SUMMARY April 2005 | ||||||
| Cargo | Cargo | % change | *12 months to Apr 05 | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 108,058 | 3.1 | 1,326,740 | 7.5 | ||
| Gatwick | 17,869 | -3.0 | 215,596 | -3.8 | ||
| Stansted | 21,490 | 22.5 | 232,459 | 10.7 | ||
| London | 147,417 | 4.7 | 1,774,795 | 6.4 | ||
| Southampton | 18 | -18.2 | 257 | -15.5 | ||
| Glasgow | 569 | 1.8 | 8,663 | 41.6 | ||
| Edinburgh | 2,251 | -0.5 | 28,139 | 7.3 | ||
| Aberdeen | 321 | 14.2 | 3,914 | 10.9 | ||
| Scottish | 3,141 | 1.2 | 40,716 | 13.5 | ||
| BAA Total | 150,576 | 4.6 | 1,815,768 | 6.5 | ||
| MARKET COMPARISON: April 2005 | |||
| Market | BAA Total for Apr 04 (in 000`s) Month | BAA Total for Apr 05 (in 000`s) Month | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 2,247 | 2,270 | 1.0 |
| Eire | 531 | 558 | 5.1 |
| European Scheduled | 4,607 | 4,692 | 1.8 |
| European Charter* | 766 | 607 | -20.8 |
| North Atlantic | 1,565 | 1,565 | 0.0 |
| Other Long Haul | 1,670 | 1,787 | 6.9 |
| Total | 11,386 | 11,478 | 0.8 |
| *includes North African Charter | |||
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
