BAA Traffic August 2003
September 12 2003 - 3:00AM
UK Regulatory
BAA's busiest ever month: traffic figures for August 2003
BAA's seven UK airports experienced their busiest ever month in August when
they handled 13.7 million passengers, an increase of 3.6% on August 2002.
All major markets recorded a continuation of the gradually improving trends
noted since the end of the Iraq War and the decline of the SARS outbreak. The
fastest growing market in August was European scheduled traffic, up 9.5%,
fuelled by further rapid growth among the low fare carriers, but there was also
a 3.0% increase in traffic for full service carriers operating in this market.
North Atlantic traffic edged closer to parity with last year, recording a drop
of only 1.1% in August, while other long haul routes collectively posted an
increase of 3.6%. Charter activity was 1.2% lower than last year, whilst
Domestic traffic was up by 1.5%.
Among the individual airports, all except Aberdeen recorded gains in August.
Heathrow recovered steadily throughout the month following the aftermath of the
British Airways' dispute in late July, achieving an increase of 1.4%. Gatwick
recorded an overall rise of 2.0%, helped by a 20.0% jump in European scheduled
traffic. Strong growth in European scheduled traffic also pushed Stansted
higher with a gain of 13.5%.
A second successive month of 79% increases at Southampton helped the airport
pass the one million annual passenger milestone during the month. In Scotland,
despite substantial increases in charter traffic, some retrenchment by low fare
carriers had the effect of curbing recent rapid growth. In August, Glasgow grew
by 1.0% on last year, Edinburgh increased by 4.7% and Aberdeen was 7.1% lower.
The total number of air transport movements at BAA airports was 0.7% up on last
year but the air cargo market continued to struggle, recording a 7.5% drop in
tonnage handled during August.
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BAA Traffic Summary : August 2003
Terminal % Fin year to % 12 months %
date: to
Passengers (000s) Month Change Apr to Aug 03 Change** Aug 03 Change***
*
Heathrow 6,185.6 1.4 27,557.5 -1.1 62,646.5 4.1
Gatwick 3,619.9 2.0 14,663.9 2.1 29,938.4 3.1
Stansted 1,978.8 13.5 8,382.1 12.0 17,645.9 18.5
London Area Total 11,784.2 3.4 50,603.5 1.8 110,230.7 5.9
Southampton 140.2 79.3 592.1 63.0 1,023.4 27.1
Glasgow 834.1 1.0 3,927.5 4.0 8,052.9 6.1
Edinburgh 717.4 4.7 3,357.9 7.5 7,305.8 9.9
Aberdeen 225.1 -7.1 1,117.0 -3.3 2,536.0 -0.1
Scottish Total 1,776.5 1.3 8,402.4 4.3 17,894.6 6.6
BAA Total 13,701.0 3.6 59,598.0 2.5 129,148.7 6.1
Air Transport % Fin year to % 12 months %
date: to
Movements Month Change* Apr to Aug 03 Change** Aug 03 Change**
*
Heathrow 40,031 -1.0 192,387 -2.3 456,524 0.3
Gatwick 23,917 0.3 106,421 -0.3 236,999 2.2
Stansted 15,761 8.0 73,925 8.4 167,642 13.8
London Area 79,709 1.1 372,733 0.2 861,165 3.2
Total
Southampton 3,273 24.1 14,981 20.6 30,386 7.2
Glasgow 8,180 -1.0 39,954 -0.2 88,664 -1.6
Edinburgh 9,071 -1.6 44,919 -1.7 105,448 0.8
Aberdeen 6,685 -7.5 33,891 -4.1 79,541 -5.1
Scottish Total 23,936 -3.1 118,764 -1.9 273,653 -1.8
BAA Total 106,918 0.7 506,478 0.2 1,165,204 2.1
Cargo % Fin year to % 12 months %
date: to
(Metric Tonnes) Month Change* Apr to Aug 03 Change** Aug 03 Change**
*
Heathrow 94,269 -7.7 496,122 -4.1 1,232,065 4.4
Gatwick 17,898 -9.7 91,294 -9.3 230,671 -5.1
Stansted 14,440 -3.4 78,173 2.3 193,880 12.0
London Area 126,607 -7.6 665,589 -4.1 1,656,616 3.8
Total
Southampton 24 -35.1 153 -12.0 360 -7.1
Glasgow 669 -10.2 2,800 -8.1 5,180 -2.7
Edinburgh 1,949 -5.0 10,475 11.8 24,149 32.3
Aberdeen 310 -8.6 1,522 -7.2 3,488 -11.2
Scottish Total 2,928 -6.6 14,797 5.3 32,817 19.3
BAA Total 129,559 -7.5 680,539 -3.9 1,689,792 4.0
Above data excludes Air Taxi passengers and Air Taxi movements.
* compared to the month of August 2002
** compared to the five months April to August 2002
*** compared to the twelve months to August 2002
Market Comparison: August 2003
BAA Total BAA Total
Market August 02 August 03
(000s) (000s) % Change
Domestic 2,277 2,311 1.5
Eire 649 627 -3.4
European Scheduled 4,693 5,140 9.5
European Charter* 2,053 2,028 -1.2
North Atlantic 1,839 1,820 -1.1
Other Long Haul 1,713 1,775 3.6
Total 13,225 13,701 3.6
* 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