The UK’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, saw passenger numbers grow by 1.4 per cent in September, latest figures show.
In total, 6,310,900 passengers flew in or out of London Heathrow in September, a 1.4 per cent increase on the same month last year. In August, 6.6 million passengers flew in or out of Heathrow, up by 0.7 per cent on August 2010.
The North Atlantic routes continued to be the fastest-growing market with a 3.5 per cent increase in passengers; there has been a 5.4 per cent increase in flights to North American destinations such as New York and Chicago from the airport over the last year. For example, US airline Delta started flying direct to Detroit from London Heathrow this summer.
Colin Matthews, Chief Executive of BAA, which owns Heathrow said that despite the economic environment the group would expect Heathrow to demonstrate its previous resilience.
“Passenger numbers rose in September, with stronger growth across the Group than in July and August. Slightly softer Heathrow traffic in the latter part of September, vigilance in the near term from individual carriers and problems facing the European economy make us cautious about predicting traffic growth trends in the coming months,” he said.
“While existing routes are performing well, capacity constraints mean the UK is lagging behind in its connections to emerging market destinations – for example Paris and Frankfurt already boast 1,000 more annual flights to China’s three largest cities than Heathrow. The UK is not just missing out on flight connections, but the economic growth these links bring.”
In September BAA estimated that 40,000 fewer passengers travelled through Heathrow because of the travel disruption caused by Hurricane Irene. The total number of passengers flying in and out of London Heathrow and London Stansted in September, which are both owned by BAA, stood at just over eight million.
(Image: terminal5insider)
