March 2003 Traffic Figures
April 09 2003 - 3:02AM
UK Regulatory
BAA ANNOUNCES MARCH TRAFFIC FIGURES
BAA's seven UK airports handled a total of 9.7 million passengers in March, a
decrease of 3.1% compared with March 2002, due to the Easter holidays falling
much later this year and the impact of the war in the Middle East.
It is not possible to accurately assess the impact of the many varied events
affecting the March traffic figures - Middle Eastern hostilities, SARS and the
effect of the late Easter holidays - but our internal planning assumption was
that the timing of Easter would reduce traffic by between 2-3% in the month of
March.
Heathrow was the worst affected by the war and change of Easter dates, down
8.1%, followed by Gatwick, down 6.2% and Aberdeen dropped 1.3%. Other BAA
airports experienced traffic growth, with Stansted up 17.4%, Glasgow up 4.6%,
Edinburgh up 6.1% and Southampton grew by 1.7%.
For the month, North Atlantic traffic dropped 8.9% and other long haul routes
fell by 12.4%. European charter traffic was down 10.2% largely reflecting the
movement of the Easter break.
The number of air transport movements rose 2.4% in March compared to last year
and cargo added 5.1%, totalling 0.15 million metric tonnes.
Full financial year
In BAA's full financial year (1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003), traffic was up
4.7% against the previous year with growth at Heathrow, up 4.3%, Stansted up
18.9%, Edinburgh up 13.1%, Glasgow up 7.7% and Aberdeen up 0.9%.
Gatwick, down 2.8%, continued to be worst impacted by the knock on effect of
September 11, 2001 and Southampton fell by 5.5%. Domestic routes performed well
for the year, up 11.3%, followed by European scheduled routes, up 5.6%, and
Irish routes up 2.7%. North Atlantic and other long haul traffic gained a
little ground, up 0.9% and 0.6% respectively.
In BAA's financial year, air transport movements rose by 1% and cargo rose by
5.9%, with 1.7 million tonnes of cargo transported through the seven UK
airports.
BAA Traffic Summary : March 2003
Terminal % Financial Year %
Passengers (000s) Month Change* 12 months to Mar 2003 Change**
Heathrow 4,861.1 -8.1 62,954.2 4.3
Gatwick 2,135.5 -6.2 29,641.8 -2.8
Stansted 1,332.0 17.4 16,745.7 18.9
London Area Total 8,328.6 -4.3 109,341.7 4.2
Southampton 63.2 1.7 794.4 -5.5
Glasgow 560.3 4.6 7,900.8 7.7
Edinburgh 595.5 6.1 7,072.4 13.1
Aberdeen 195.2 -1.3 2,574.5 0.9
Scottish Total 1,351.0 4.3 17,547.7 8.7
BAA Total 9,742.7 -3.1 127,683.9 4.7
Air Transport % Financial Year %
Movements Month Change* 12 months to Mar 2003 Change**
Heathrow 38,265 -0.0 461,135 1.2
Gatwick 18,392 0.5 237,301 -0.6
Stansted 13,672 21.9 161,934 7.8
London Area Total 70,329 3.8 860,370 1.8
Southampton 2,184 -3.7 27,831 -1.9
Glasgow 6,878 3.0 88,734 -2.6
Edinburgh 8,723 -0.9 106,210 4.4
Aberdeen 6,319 -5.2 80,980 -6.1
Scottish Total 21,920 -1.0 275,924 -1.1
BAA Total 94,433 2.4 1,164,125 1.0
Cargo % Financial Year %
(Metric Tonnes) Month Change* 12 months to Mar 2003 Change**
Heathrow 111,287 5.2 1,253,055 7.4
Gatwick 20,959 -5.7 240,080 -8.7
Stansted 17,701 17.0 192,154 15.1
London Area Total 149,947 4.8 1,685,289 5.6
Southampton 25 -19.4 380 12.9
Glasgow 239 1.2 5,427 0.6
Edinburgh 1,821 50.7 23,041 48.6
Aberdeen 286 -14.9 3,607 -14.3
Scottish Total 2,346 31.7 32,075 27.7
BAA Total 152,318 5.1 1,717,744 5.9
Above data excludes Air Taxi passengers and Air Taxi movements.
* compared to the month of March 2002
** compared to the twelve months to March 2002
Market Comparison: March 2003
BAA Total BAA Total
Market Mar-02 Mar-03
(000s) (000s) % Change
Domestic 1,948 2,081 6.8
Eire 515 500 -2.8
European Scheduled 3,741 3,716 -0.7
European Charter* 797 716 -10.2
North Atlantic 1,439 1,312 -8.9
Other Long Haul 1,617 1,417 -12.4
Total 10,058 9,743 -3.1
Market Comparison: Financial Year 2002-03
BAA Total BAA Total
Market Apr 01 - Mar 02 Apr 02 - Mar 03 % Change
(000s) (000s)
Domestic 22,178 24,674 11.3
Eire 6,153 6,318 2.7
European Scheduled 44,701 47,222 5.6
European Charter* 13,336 13,647 2.3
North Atlantic 17,655 17,819 0.9
Other Long Haul 17,897 18,005 0.6
Total 121,920 127,684 4.7
* 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
END