Weak economy blamed on drop in air passenger numbers
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Posted on: August 21st, 2008 by Martin Fellowes
The economic slowdown and effects of the credit crunch in the UK are being blamed on falling air passenger numbers at the country’s largest airports.
According to BAA, which owns and operates seven of the UK’s airports, including Gatwick and Heathrow in London, and Glasgow Airport in Scotland, passenger numbers dropped by 1.7 per cent in July, as compared with July of 2007.
The largest decrease in passenger numbers was seen at London’s Stansted Airport, also owned by BAA, which was down by 5.3 per cent from the same month last year.
Both Scottish airports owned by BAA, Glasgow and Edinburgh, also saw reductions in the number of airline passengers.
The “stimulus” provided by the Open Skies agreement gave a small boost to passenger traffic on North Atlantic routes, which saw a bump of 0.6 per cent over the same month in 2007. The number of scheduled flights offered between points in the UK and Europe and America also increased.
BAA has secured the necessary funding, £13 billion, in a refinancing deal that is meant to provide “immediate” improvements at its airports across the UK.
www.baa.com
