BAA Airport Passenger Numbers Down For May

It has been announced by BAA (British Airports Authority) that passenger numbers at their airports were down by 0.5% in May compared with 2007.

It is not all bad news however as Heathrow and Gatwick Airports both owned by the group were busier. During May BAA airports had 12.7 million passengers pass through them. The fall in numbers has been apportioned to a published 5.3% reduction in domestic passenger numbers in the UK. In addition to this there was a 2.5% reduction in passengers on European charter flights.

The airports worst hit were Stansted (down 3.3%), and Southampton (down 6.9%) which is rather worrying as it does indicate a rather dramatic reduction in this case. The largest decline in passenger numbers however was at Glasgow Airport with a reduction of 9.1%. This has been blamed upon cut-backs that have been made in charter and domestic flights over the North Atlantic. It also may be an inaccurate result to compare the 2007 figures as that year saw passengers travelling to the UEFA Cup Final pass through the airport.

Published by: Jon Vickery