The number of passengers travelling through BAAs seven UK airports fell sharply last month as demand for air travel declined amid the worsening economic climate.
The airports operator said it had handled 6 per cent fewer passengers year-on-year in October. The decline began to accelerate sharply in September, when passenger numbers fell by 5 per cent year-on-year. The trend at the BAA airports is being reflected across Europe.
Frankfurt airport said on Thursday its passenger numbers had fallen by 4.9 per cent in October, while ACI Europe, the airports trade association, said passenger numbers overall at *European airports fell by 3.3 per cent in September while air cargo volumes were 7.2 per cent lower than a year ago.
Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, said: The economic turmoil is now clearly taking its toll on airports across Europe ... an increasing number of airports of all sizes are feeling the ill-effects of rapidly declining demand. The situation is even worse for freight.
BAA traffic volumes have been falling for seven months in succession and have fallen in eight of 10 months this year, as demand for air travel has slowed under pressure from weaker consumer confidence and higher fares caused by rising fuel costs.
Traffic across the North Atlantic fell by 7.1 per cent, while domestic passenger numbers fell by 6.3 per cent and European scheduled passengers dropped by 5.1 per cent.
Among the London airports, traffic fell by 3.7 per cent at Heathrow, 10.3 per cent at Gatwick and 6.3 per cent at Stansted.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4464370a-b1da-11dd-b97a-0000779fd18c.html
The airports operator said it had handled 6 per cent fewer passengers year-on-year in October. The decline began to accelerate sharply in September, when passenger numbers fell by 5 per cent year-on-year. The trend at the BAA airports is being reflected across Europe.
Frankfurt airport said on Thursday its passenger numbers had fallen by 4.9 per cent in October, while ACI Europe, the airports trade association, said passenger numbers overall at *European airports fell by 3.3 per cent in September while air cargo volumes were 7.2 per cent lower than a year ago.
Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, said: The economic turmoil is now clearly taking its toll on airports across Europe ... an increasing number of airports of all sizes are feeling the ill-effects of rapidly declining demand. The situation is even worse for freight.
BAA traffic volumes have been falling for seven months in succession and have fallen in eight of 10 months this year, as demand for air travel has slowed under pressure from weaker consumer confidence and higher fares caused by rising fuel costs.
Traffic across the North Atlantic fell by 7.1 per cent, while domestic passenger numbers fell by 6.3 per cent and European scheduled passengers dropped by 5.1 per cent.
Among the London airports, traffic fell by 3.7 per cent at Heathrow, 10.3 per cent at Gatwick and 6.3 per cent at Stansted.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4464370a-b1da-11dd-b97a-0000779fd18c.html