BAA traffic commentary: October 2008
BAA’s seven UK airports handled a total of 12.4 million passengers during October, a drop of 6.0% over the same period last year. Year to date, BAA´s UK airport traffic shows a decline of 1.9% for the ten months to October at a total of 125.8 million.
Of the key markets, European charter recorded the highest percentage drop (-15.7%) while North Atlantic, Domestic, European scheduled and other long haul were down 7.1%, 6.3%, 5.1% and 4.3% respectively.
On an individual airport level, Heathrow was down 3.7% although its North Atlantic traffic continued to do well (up 7.4%). Gatwick’s positive results on the Irish routes (up 27.3%) and European scheduled (up 3.5%) partly offset the 41.6% drop in North Atlantic traffic (mainly due to the introduction of the ‘Open Skies’ agreement), the airport overall declined 10.3%. Stansted was down by 6.3% and Southampton by 7.4%.
Overall the Scottish airports posted a drop of 6.1%, Glasgow fell by 9.1%, Aberdeen by 5.3% and Edinburgh by 3.2%.
In total the group handled 4.2% fewer air transport movements in October. Cargo tonnage was down 2.5% despite increases of 4.2%, 3.3% and 26.8% respectively at Heathrow, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
BAA remains of the view that the long-term growth prospects for aviation are good. Historically, air traffic growth recovers from short-term shocks such as those currently being played out in the financial markets, as evidenced by the growth in traffic after the Gulf wars, 9/11 and the Asian economic problems in the late 1990s and the fact that sales of commercial civilian aircraft remain buoyant.
BAA traffic summary: October 2008
| Terminal passengers (000s) | Month | % change | Year to date Jan to Oct 2008 | % change | Nov 2007 to Oct 2008 | %change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 5,630.4 | -3.7 | 56,686.4 | -1.0 | 67,283.3 | -0.4 |
| Gatwick | 2,775.6 | -10.3 | 30,111.1 | -1.1 | 34,820.3 | -0.4 |
| Stansted | 1,975.6 | -6.3 | 19,587.6 | -4.9 | 22,752.3 | -5.3 |
| London area total | 10,381.7 | -6.0 | 106,385.1 | -1.8 | 124,855.9 | -1.3 |
| Southampton | 165.8 | -7.4 | 1,690.2 | 0.4 | 1,972.7 | 0.6 |
Glasgow | 787.2 | -9.1 | 7,158.1 | -5.8 | 8,287.7 | -5.6 |
| Edinburgh | 794.0 | -3.2 | 7,747.9 | 0.3 | 9,063.3 | 0.8 |
| Aberdeen | 302.4 | -5.3 | 2,835.0 | -2.8 | 3,352.4 | -2.7 |
| Scottish total | 1,883.7 | -6.1 | 17,740.9 | -2.7 | 20,703.4 | -2.4 |
| UK total | 12,431.1 | -6.0 | 125,816.2 | -1.9 | 147,532.0 | -1.5 |
| Naples | 492.0 | -11.3 | 4,973.7 | 0.0 | 5,735.3 | 1.7 |
| Air transport movements | Month | % change | Year to date Jan to Oct 2008 | % change | Nov 2007 to Oct 2008 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 40,409 | -1.2 | 398,321 | -0.1 | 475,267 | 0.2 |
| Gatwick | 21,594 | -5.1 | 222,760 | 0.7 | 260,289 | 1.0 |
| Stansted | 15,579 | -8.0 | 154,543 | -6.1 | 181,465 | -6.3 |
| London area total | 77,582 | -3.7 | 775,624 | -1.1 | 917,021 | -0.9 |
| Southampton | 3,933 | -4.4 | 38,699 | -3.9 | 45,485 | -3.3 |
| Glasgow | 7,913 | -9.3 | 75,248 | -6.4 | 88,443 | -6.7 |
| Edinburgh | 10,042 | -1.9 | 97,786 | 0.4 | 115,491 | 0.2 |
| Aberdeen | 9,027 | -6.5 | 87,552 | -1.6 | 104,078 | -1.7 |
| Scottish total | 26,982 | -5.7 | 260,586 | -2.3 | 308,012 | -2.5 |
| UK total | 108,497 | -4.2 | 1,074,909 | -1.5 | 1,270,518 | -1.4 |
| Naples | 5,842 | -11.3 | 60,310 | -3.8 | 69,919 | -3.2 |
| Cargo (metric tonnes) | Month | % change | Year to date Jan to Oct 2008 | % change | Nov 2007 to Oct 2008 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 119,501 | 4.2 | 1,182,737 | 9.0 | 1,411,491 | 9.4 |
| Gatwick | 8,136 | -43.3 | 93,253 | -34.5 | 122,191 | -29.9 |
| Stansted | 17,619 | -6.0 | 169,016 | -2.2 | 202,843 | -2.5 |
| London area total | 145,256 | -1.7 | 1,445,006 | 3.2 | 1,736,525 | 3.8 |
| Southampton | 20 | -23.1 | 237 | 4.6 | 306 | 8.6 |
| Glasgow | 314 | 3.3 | 3,239 | -12.7 | 3,810 | -18.3 |
| Edinburgh | 699 | -66.1 | 8,772 | -47.0 | 12,328 | -37.5 |
| Aberdeen | 388 | 26.8 | 3,547 | 4.9 | 4,118 | 2.5 |
| Scottish total | 1,401 | -47.6 | 15,558 | -34.2 | 20,256 | -28.7 |
| UK total | 146,677 | -2.5 | 1,460,800 | 2.6 | 1,757,086 | 3.3 |
| Naples | 167 | -30.1 | 2,002 | -22.1 | 2,451 | -18.6 |
Market comparison - UK airports October 2008
| Market | BAA total October 2007 (000s) | BAA total October 2008 (000s) | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 2,299.6 | 2,155.0 | -6.3 |
| Eire | 577.2 | 566.6 | -1.8 |
| European scheduled | 5,546.6 | 5,266.3 | -5.1 |
| European charter | 953.3 | 804.0 | -15.7 |
| North Atlantic | 1,707.1 | 1,585.1 | -7.1 |
| Other long-haul | 2,146.3 | 2,054.1 | -4.3 |
| Total | 13,230.1 | 12,431.1 | -6.0 |
* includes North African charter
Note: Origins and destinations are classificed according to ultimate origin or destination of aircraft in the case of multi-sector flights.
Notes: Figures for the market sectors have been rounded. Totals as per Traffic Summary.
