BAA passenger traffic up 6.3%

Lorna Strickland

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An early Easter holiday boosted the group's passenger traffic to 11.6m at its UK airports

BAA's UK airports handled 141.7m passengers in the financial year 2004/5, representing an increase of 6.3% on the previous year. The airport group's UK locations handled 11.6m passengers in March, an increase of 7.7%. BAA said the figure was helped by an early Easter holiday.

European scheduled passengers increased by 9.7%, with a 21% rise in low-cost passengers boosting the results. North Atlantic long-haul routes increased by 3.3% and other long-haul routes accounted for a 14.1% rise.

European charter markets decreased by 1.9% despite the early Easter holiday and "reflects continued competitive pressures," said the authority. UK domestic routes recorded 4% growth.

Gatwick benefited most from the early Easter with 154% growth in March, the highest of all BAA's UK airports. Passengers through Gatwick reached 32m in the year, the first time the figure has been reached since September 2001.

Passenger figures at Edinburgh and Aberdeen rose 6.2% each, with Southampton's figure rising by 12.9% year on year and Stansted's figure rising by 9.1%.