Edinburgh airport passenger traffic up

www.baa.com

Passenger traffic at Edinburgh Airport increased by 3.9 per cent during April, but it was the only one of Scotland’s airports to see upward movement.

BAA, the operator of Edinburgh and other major Scottish airports, attributed the improved performance at the airport to a busy Easter holiday.

At Glasgow Airport, however, passenger numbers fell by 11.6 per cent, and by 10.7 per cent at Aberdeen.

Grupo Ferrovial, the Spanish-based parent of BAA, currently owns seven UK airports. The UK Competition Commission has ordered BAA to sell either Edinburgh or Glasgow airport in Scotland, due to its market dominance.

Of BAA’s seven UK airports, the Competition Commission is requiring that it sell off three – including the Scottish airport – in order to offer airlines and air travellers more choices. As a further condition, the airports must be acquired by different buyers.

BAA has reported declining passenger numbers for the past year. In April, its seven airports handled 11.5 million passengers, which was a drop of 2.3 per cent from April of last year. It was an improvement on the figures for March, however, when passenger numbers fell by 11.3 per cent.

BAA attributed the improvement in April to the timing of Easter, which fell in March last year and April this year. The holiday traditionally sees a rise in passenger demand.

Removing the holiday effect, there would have been a 6.8 per cent decline in passenger traffic, according to BAA.

For more information on this article please visit news.bbc.co.uk.

www.baa.com