BAA traffic commentary: February 2010
BAA's UK traffic grew 2.4% last month compared to February 2009, which was affected by severe weather.
BAA's UK airports handled a total of 7.13 million passengers in February, an increase of 2.4% on the same month last year. February 2009 saw passenger traffic affected by heavy snow across the UK.
Heathrow traffic grew 5.3%, as it was largely free of snow in February 2010 and remains more resilient than other UK airports. The underlying figure - adjusted to take account of the weather problems last year - is 2.7%.
Stansted's traffic declined by 4.5% compared to last February, demonstrating that the market remains challenging. Southampton grew 5.9% with most of the gain attributable to the recovery from bad weather this time last year.
Glasgow (down 5.0%) and Aberdeen (down 4.6%) were relatively unaffected by the snow of last year but Edinburgh (up 3.5%) gained not only because of weather but also from additional rugby related traffic. Traffic at Naples grew by 5.4%.
Colin Matthews, BAA’s chief executive officer, said: “Heathrow remains resilient and other airports are beginning to see encouraging signs. However traffic remains depressed, reflecting tough conditions in the economy generally and in aviation specifically.”
For the first time in two years, domestic traffic across BAA was up, by 1.1%. European scheduled services recorded a 2.6% increase and North Atlantic traffic was up by 2.7% despite several periods of heavy snow in the Mid-West and North Eastern parts of the US.
Other long haul traffic rose by 4.0% overall with strong contributions from services to China (up 6.8%), the Middle East (up 11.1%) and South America (up 17.6%).
In total the Group recorded a drop of 0.2% in the number of air transport movements (Heathrow up 2.1%) and an increase of 23.2% in the tonnage of cargo handled. This latter result represents the third consecutive month of double-digit increases in cargo and closely matches experience of the global air-freight industry.
BAA traffic summary: February 2010
| Terminal passengers (000s) | Month | % change | Jan to Feb 2010 | % change | Mar 2009 to Feb 2010 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 4,600.4 | 5.3 | 9,430.5 | 2.2 | 66,114.4 | -0.4 |
| Stansted | 1,238.1 | -4.5 | 2,454.0 | -5.0 | 19,821.8 | -9.6 |
| London area total | 5,838.5 | 3.0 | 11,884.5 | 0.6 | 85,936.2 | -2.6 |
| Southampton | 114.9 | 5.9 | 209.9 | -1.8 | 1,787.4 | -6.4 |
| Glasgow | 400.6 | -5.0 | 787.4 | -8.7 | 7,144.9 | -10.5 |
| Edinburgh | 582.1 | 3.5 | 1,095.4 | -1.9 | 9,025.6 | 1.6 |
| Aberdeen | 195.0 | -4.6 | 378.2 | -9.2 | 2,962.0 | -9.0 |
| Scottish total | 1,177.7 | -0.9 | 2,261.0 | -5.6 | 19,132.4 | -4.9 |
| UK total | 7,131.1 | 2.4 | 14,355.4 | -0.4 | 106,856.0 | -3.1 |
| Naples | 312.7 | 5.4 | 621.0 | 8.4 | 5,338.7 | -2.5 |
| Air transport movements | Month | % change | Jan to Feb 2010 | % change | Mar 2009 to Feb 2010 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 35,061 | 2.1 | 71,189 | -1.5 | 458,931 | -2.2 |
| Stansted | 10,534 | -1.0 | 21,827 | -3.3 | 155,490 | -9.9 |
| London area total | 45,595 | 1.3 | 93,016 | -1.9 | 614,421 | -4.3 |
| Southampton | 2,728 | 1.5 | 5,275 | -3.6 | 40,362 | -8.3 |
| Glasgow | 4,825 | -5.9 | 9,605 | -9.8 | 73,226 | -13.7 |
| Edinburgh | 7,473 | -1.9 | 14,651 | -6.7 | 105,996 | -5.8 |
| Aberdeen | 6,888 | -4.5 | 13,478 | -9.2 | 95,499 | -6.3 |
| Scottish total | 19,186 | -3.9 | 37,734 | -8.4 | 274,721 | -8.2 |
| UK total | 67,509 | -0.2 | 136,025 | -3.9 | 929,504 | -5.7 |
| Naples | 3,850 | -5.7 | 7,936 | -3.8 | 63,715 | -5.7 |
| Cargo (metric tonnes) | Month | % change | Jan to Feb 2010 | % change | Mar 2009 to Feb 2010 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 113,021 | 24.1 | 219,321 | 19.4 | 1,313,991 | -3.9 |
| Stansted | 15,437 | 23.7 | 30,602 | 18.8 | 188,444 | -2.1 |
| London area total | 128,458 | 24.1 | 249,923 | 19.4 | 1,502,435 | -3.7 |
| Southampton | 7 | -45.5 | 19 | -29.8 | 201 | -12.5 |
| Glasgow | 208 | 49.4 | 406 | 56.2 | 2,859 | -14.0 |
| Edinburgh | 1,553 | -18.3 | 3,094 | -22.0 | 23,197 | 96.9 |
| Aberdeen | 355 | -11.3 | 715 | -11.7 | 4,826 | 13.5 |
| Scottish total | 2,116 | -13.3 | 4,215 | -16.3 | 30,882 | 59.5 |
| UK total | 130,581 | 23.2 | 254,157 | 18.5 | 1,533,518 | -2.9 |
| Naples | 238 | 45.3 | 363 | 16.6 | 2,038 | -0.7 |
Market comparison - UK airports February 2010
| Market | BAA total Feb 2009 (000s) | BAA total Feb 2010 (000s) | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK & Channel Islands | 1,340.3 | 1,355.7 | 1.1 |
| Ireland | 338.6 | 324.2 | -4.2 |
| European scheduled | 2,815.9 | 2,889.7 | 2.6 |
| European charter* | 90.4 | 99.0 | 9.5 |
| North Atlantic | 858.5 | 881.5 | 2.7 |
| Other long haul | 1,520.7 | 1,581.1 | 4.0 |
| Total | 6,964.4 | 7,131.1 | 2.4 |
* Includes North African charter
Note: Origins and destinations are classified according to ultimate origin or destination of aircraft in the case of multi-sector flights.
Note: Figures for the market sectors have been rounded. Totals as per Traffic Summary
