BAA passenger numbers surge in July

Print Article E-Mail Article

Long-haul passenger numbers have returned to pre-September 11 levels, says BAA

BAA's UK airports handled 14.2m passengers in July, an 8% rise on the same month last year.

Long-haul routes benefited most from the rise, with passenger numbers on North Atlantic routes up 12.3% and other long-hail destinations up 14.6%. BAA said long-haul traffic had finally hit pre-September 11 2001 levels.

Low-cost airlines boosted the numbers on European routes. Passenger numbers on European scheduled routes were 10.8% higher than in July last year, while domestic routes posted a 6.8% increase.

Stansted posted 10.2% growth in the month, Heathrow traffic rose over 7% while Glasgow airport became the first Scottish airport to handle 1m passengers in a single month.