BAA says passenger traffic in March falls by 1.3%

BAA says passenger traffic in March falls by 1.3%

	Published : Tue, 11 Apr 2006 16:15 By : Phil Bateman Print this Story

LONDON: Britain's airport operator BAA Plc. said passenger traffic in U.K. airports managed by it fell by 1.3 per cent in March compared with March of 2005. It said 11.4 million passengers used its airports during the month.

BAA owns and manages London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports as part of a portfolio spanning five countries. It is the world's largest airport operator and has been target of a 12.6-billion-euro acquisition bid by a consortium put up by Spanish construction firm Ferrovial. BAA rejected the offer forthright saying the value quoted in too low.

BAA said traffic at Heathrow airport fell by 3.8 per cent in March and 0.3 per cent for the full year. Gatwick airport had its passenger numbers go up 2.6 per cent and Stansted up 2.2 per cent.

The company attributed the slump to the prevailing economic conditions, the bombings that shook London in July 2005, a labour dispute involving catering staff in the summer and the higher price of oil.

Besides the three major airports, BAA also operates Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton airports in Britain.

It said scheduled and charter traffic to Europe fell 0.4 per cent and 15.4 per cent respectively. Passengers to North Atlantic declined by 2.8 per cent, while traffic to other long-haul destinations increased by 4.6 per cent.

BAA is in the midst of building a fifth terminal at the busy Heathrow airport spending 4.2 billion pounds.

BAA said for the year to the end of March, overall passenger numbers at the seven U.K. airports had risen by 2 per cent to 144.6 million. At Heathrow the passenger numbers dropped 0.3 per cent to 67.4 million. Gatwick saw 32.8 million passengers pass through the airport, a growth of 2.6 per cent.

Low cost airlines using Stansted ensured that nearly 22.2 million passengers pass through it, an increase of 5 per cent. Southampton airport saw user numbers jump 5.2 per cent. Aberdeen airport recorded a 9.5 per cent increase in passengers and Glasgow 2.4 per cent and Edinburgh 5.6 per cent.