BAA traffic up 4.3% in June

Emily Pacey

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Growth in long-haul markets offsets further falls in European charter market

BAA's seven UK airports welcomed 13.4m people in June, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.3%.

Long haul flights grew by 11.1%, primarily because of increases in traffic on Indian and Chinese services.

European charter traffic fell once more, by 5.9%, while European scheduled markets grew by 5.7%. Increased services boosted traffic to Ireland by 10.5%.

London Heathrow welcomed 1.1% more passengers this June than last. The airport operated fewer short-haul flights in June, due to the growing popularity of low-cost services. The resulting effect on short-haul traffic was offset by the growth of long-haul passenger numbers.

At other airports, Southampton posted the highest rise, welcoming 31.7% more passengers than June last year. London Stansted reported a 9.2% increase in traffic and London Gatwick grew by 4.6%. Of BAA's three Scottish airports, Glasgow increased by 4.3%, Edinburgh by 9.6% and Aberdeen by 9.3%.