Rise in passengers at UK airports

UK airports handled 217 million passengers last year, a report by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has found – an increase of over 8% on 2003 figures.

There were also over one million air transport movements (landings and take-offs of commercial aircraft) at London’s airports for the first time.

The CAA reported a 7% increase in passenger traffic at London’s five main airports – Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City. Heathrow reported the biggest increase (3.6 million passengers), followed by Stansted, where passenger traffic increased by 2.2 million.

A growth in passenger traffic was also reported at the UK’s regional airports, where an increase of 9% passengers was recorded. Newcastle was the fastest growing regional airport with an increase in passenger traffic of 21%, followed by Bristol (19%) and Leeds Bradford with (17%).

Passenger numbers were also reported to have doubled at London airports and tripled at regional airports in the period between 1987 – 2004.

The proportion of passengers at UK airports flying on scheduled UK airlines also reached its highest level for the last two decades, climbing to 50.1% in 2004. However, the CAA reported a drop in the proportion flying on UK charter carriers from UK airports, which, at 15.1% last year was the lowest level in the past twenty years, representing a decrease of 1.3 million passengers on 2003.

The CAA also reported an increase in landings and take-offs (air transport movements) at UK airports in 2004 – a growth of 6% to 2.2 million from 2003 figures. Air transport movements also increased at regional airports, reaching a total of 1.2 million – an increase of 7% on 2003 figures, while London airports reported over one million air transport movements alone for the first time.

The number of UK airport passengers travelling between European destinations also increased by 7% last year, totalling 122 million passengers. The CAA also reported a “significant increase” in the passenger numbers on routes to other EU member states in Eastern Europe, which rose by 97% on 2003 figures. The largest growth was reported on routes to the Czech Republic (59%).

The next most popular destinations were found to be other UK airports or North American. The number of passengers on UK domestic flights increased by 6%, while the number of travellers on North American routes increased by 9%. However, the CAA said that passenger levels had still not returned to the levels of 2000.

The total number of passengers from UK airports to other destinations worldwide also increased by 16%, with the largest growth occurring on routes to Africa and the Middle East, which both increased by 21%.

(KMcA/SP)