Long haul worst hit as BAA traffic drops in 2001

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Passenger numbers at BAA's seven UK airports reached 121.9m in 2001, the company has announced. The figure marks a 1.6% fall in traffic compared with the previous year, although there are some encouraging signs in the results.

Heathrow and Gatwick were the only airports to lose numbers, while Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Southampton and Stansted all picked up traffic. Stansted was the fastest growing of BAA's airports, recording a growth of 15.2% in 2001.

According to BAA, domestic and European charter were the most buoyant sectors of 2001, with increases of 2.3% and 1.5% respectively, while North Atlantic and other long haul markets performed the worst (-10.9% and -2.2%). European scheduled traffic and Irish traffic remained constant.

The yearly figures were bolstered by a busy Christmas period, with the seven airports handling 8.2m passengers. Although this represents a drop of 6.4% on the same period for 2000, it is the smallest decrease since September 11, hinting at a return of consumer confidence.