BAAs June traffic figures

BAAs UK airports

BAAs UK airports have handled a total of 70.4 million passengers this year to date, a drop of 0.6% on the same period last year. Junes passengers comprised 13.5 million of the total, a drop of 1.8% on the same month last year. Given the combination of a weakening global economic climate and the impact of higher fuel costs on airfares, this result compares well with contemporary results coming from some major UK retailers.

General trend

The traffic trends show that especially at Heathrow, which accounts for 46% of total traffic,
an increase in long haul flights (characterised by higher occupancy and higher profitability per passenger), versus a decline in Domestic. Gatwick shows a decline in North Atlantic traffic associated with services switching to Heathrow as a result of Open Skies.

On an individual airport level:


Heathrow: North Atlantic (+10.7%), Domestic (-2.7%), Irish (-15.2%) and European Scheduled (-6.4%).

Gatwick: European Scheduled (+10.8%), Irish (+30.5%). Decline in North Atlantic traffic associated with services switching to Heathrow as a result of Open Skies.

Stansted: Irish market (+2.6%). All the other markets were negative.

Southampton: European Charter (+ 53.7%) and Domestic (+3.4%). Air transport movements: In total the number of air transport movements at BAA airports was 0.6% down on last June and cargo was 0.7% up. Apart from Heathrow (+8.1%) and Aberdeen (+11.7%) cargo activity remained depressed at the other five airports.

Markets: European Scheduled, North Atlantic and Other long haul routes all saw reductions of around 1%. Irish traffic was only marginally lower than last year and European Charter (- 4.7%) and UK Domestic (-4.2%) posting the worst results.

Further information: