BAA traffic commentary: October 2009
- Traffic at all seven UK BAA airports fell 1.4%, the best performance since June 2008
- Heathrow traffic up 1% on last year
- Gatwick recorded first year on year growth since May 2008
- Edinburgh grew for seventh consecutive month
- Cargo tonnage recorded first monthly increase since August 2008
BAA’s seven UK airports handled a total of 12.3 million passengers in October, a drop of 1.4% on the same month last year. Although still in decline, this was the best performance since June 2008 and there were some encouraging indicators of improvement in terms of passenger traffic at Heathrow, Gatwick and Edinburgh; a strong upturn in airline load factors and a recovery in cargo traffic.
Among individual airports Heathrow recorded a 1.0% increase in passengers and Gatwick (up 1.8%) achieved a monthly increase for the first time since May 2008. Edinburgh continued its recent run of improvement with a 3.8% gain in October, on the back of the introduction of new low cost routes to Europe.
Airlines at Stansted have cut the number of seats offered by 11.7% compared to last October, and therefore passenger traffic fell 10.1%. Glasgow (down 9.2%), Aberdeen (down 8.3%) and Southampton (down 6.4%) also all continued to see passenger traffic fall.
Colin Matthews, BAA’s chief executive, said: “This year has been one of the most challenging on record for the aviation industry, and the outlook remains difficult. Nevertheless, the figures across the group appear to be improving. Heathrow’s traffic figures were particularly encouraging and come as a result of the airport being the hub of a strong international long-haul route network.”
Long haul routes served by BAA’s airports (excluding North Atlantic) saw a 4.6% increase in passenger numbers, including a 10% increase to the Middle East and 11.8% increase to India. European scheduled routes saw an increase of 1.1%. North Atlantic routes recorded a 14.5% cutback in the number of seats offered and in these circumstances it was notable that the drop in passengers carried was only 4.8%. UK Domestic routes recorded a similar experience with a decrease of passengers of only 5.3%, although there was a 12.5% cut in seats offered.
In total across the Group the number of air transport movements contracted by 6.0% and the number of seats by a similar amount. It was the 3.4 point gain in load factor (the percentage of seats filled) which helped the passenger total to decrease by only 1.4%.
Cargo tonnage at BAA’s airports improved sharply on recent results to record the first monthly increase (up 1.5%) since August 2008. This has previously been seen as an early indicator of improving conditions in the wider economy, both in the UK and overseas.
BAA traffic summary: October 2009
| Terminal passengers (000s) | Month | % change | Jan to Oct 2009 | % change | Nov 2008 to Oct 2009 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 5,687.4 | 1.0 | 55,563.0 | -2.0 | 65,786.5 | -2.2 |
| Gatwick | 2,826.9 | 1.8 | 28,183.3 | -6.4 | 32,250.7 | -7.4 |
| Stansted | 1,776.5 | -10.1 | 17,273.6 | -11.8 | 20,023.6 | -12.0 |
London area total | 10,290.8 | -0.9 | 101,019.9 | -5.0 | 118,060.9 | -5.4 |
| Southampton | 155.2 | -6.4 | 1,541.4 | -8.8 | 1,802.2 | -8.6 |
| Glasgow | 715.2 | -9.2 | 6,305.8 | -11.9 | 7,284.8 | -12.1 |
| Edinburgh | 824.6 | 3.8 | 7,819.6 | 0.9 | 9,065.0 | 0.0 |
| Aberdeen | 277.3 | -8.3 | 2,554.5 | -9.9 | 3,032.8 | -9.5 |
| Scottish total | 1,817.1 | -3.5 | 16,679.9 | -6.0 | 19,382.6 | -6.4 |
| UK total | 12,263.0 | -1.4 | 119,241.2 | -5.2 | 139,245.7 | -5.6 |
| Naples | 500.5 | 1.7 | 4,589.8 | -7.7 | 5,219.1 | -9.0 |
| Air transport movements | Month | % change | Jan to Oct 2009 | % change | Nov 2008 to Oct 2009 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 38,452 | -4.8 | 386,060 | -3.1 | 460,878 | -3.0 |
| Gatwick | 21,546 | -0.2 | 210,969 | -5.3 | 244,573 | -6.0 |
| Stansted | 13,887 | -10.9 | 134,115 | -13.2 | 156,729 | -13.6 |
| London area total | 73,885 | -4.8 | 731,144 | -5.7 | 862,180 | -6.0 |
| Southampton | 3,463 | -12.0 | 34,726 | -10.3 | 40,928 | -10.0 |
| Glasgow | 6,765 | -14.5 | 63,876 | -15.1 | 75,395 | -14.8 |
| Edinburgh | 9,320 | -7.2 | 91,804 | -6.1 | 108,446 | -6.1 |
| Aberdeen | 8,526 | -5.6 | 81,875 | -6.5 | 97,550 | -6.3 |
| Scottish total | 24,611 | -8.8 | 237,555 | -8.8 | 281,391 | -8.6 |
| UK total | 101,959 | -6.0 | 1,003,425 | -6.7 | 1,184,499 | -6.8 |
| Naples | 5,652 | -3.3 | 55,484 | -8.0 | 63,722 | -8.9 |
| Cargo (metric tonnes) | Month | % change | Jan to Oct 2009 | % change | Nov 2008 to Oct 2009 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 120,618 | 0.9 | 1,034,649 | -12.5 | 1,252,480 | -11.3 |
| Gatwick | 7,485 | -8.0 | 58,607 | -37.2 | 73,074 | -40.2 |
| Stansted | 18,125 | 2.9 | 149,986 | -11.3 | 180,457 | -11.0 |
| London area total | 146,228 | 0.7 | 1,243,241 | -14.0 | 1,506,010 | -13.3 |
| Southampton | 19 | -5.6 | 171 | -27.9 | 198 | -35.3 |
| Glasgow | 215 | -31.5 | 2,335 | -27.9 | 2,805 | -26.4 |
| Edinburgh | 2,025 | 190.5 | 19,988 | 128.0 | 21,465 | 74.2 |
| Aberdeen | 410 | 5.8 | 4,232 | 19.3 | 4,783 | 16.1 |
| Scottish total | 2,650 | 89.4 | 26,556 | 70.7 | 29,054 | 43.5 |
| UK total | 148,897 | 1.5 | 1,269,968 | -13.1 | 1,535,262 | -12.6 |
| Naples | 143 | -14.0 | 1,703 | -14.9 | 1,933 | -21.1 |
Market comparison - UK airports October 2009
| Market | BAA total Oct 2008 (000s) | BAA total Oct 2009 (000s) | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK & Channel Islands | 2,155.0 | 2,040.1 | -5.3 |
| Ireland | 566.6 | 538.5 | -5.0 |
| European scheduled | 5,266.3 | 5,323.7 | 1.1 |
| European charter* | 804.0 | 704.0 | -12.4 |
| North Atlantic | 1,585.1 | 1,509.1 | -4.8 |
| Other long haul | 2,054.1 | 2,147.6 | 4.6 |
| Total | 12,431.1 | 12,263.0 | -1.4 |
* 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.
