London airport passenger traffic shrinks
Passenger numbers at London's busiest three airports fell by ten per cent in the first three months of this year.
London airport passenger traffic shrinks" class="imageframe alignright" height="200" src="http://pictures.directnews.co.uk/liveimages/Heathrow+BAA_1455_19152598_0_0_8008_300.jpg" width="200"/>Passenger numbers at London's busiest three airports fell by ten per cent in the first three months of this year.
Airport operator BAA said traffic at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted was down by 2.8 million to 24.8 million in the first quarter.
At Heathrow, the only one of the three airports BAA has not been ordered to sell by the Competition Commission, passenger numbers were 6.4 per cent lower at 14.4 million against the previous year.
Gatwick and Stansted both felt dips in passenger traffic of 14.6 per cent to 6.3 million and 4.1 million respectively.
BAA said a fall in value at Terminal 5 and the lower passenger numbers were behind pre-tax losses of £316.2 million against £55.6 million losses last year.
"Today's results were delivered in the most difficult economic circumstances, but are in line with our expectations," said the group's chief executive Colin Matthews.
"Although overall traffic trends weakened due to the economic downturn, Heathrow continues to demonstrate resilience, benefiting from its position as a major global hub airport for long-haul services.
"The rest of the year will be difficult and will present more challenges but our focus remains on raising service standards and maximising efficiency."