Bad weather hits BAA passenger numbers

Dec 11 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

AIRPORTS operator BAA said bad weather hit passenger number growth by 130,000 last month as it battled against the “worst snow for decades”.

The number of passengers rose by 1% to 7.9m year-on-year in November – but would have been up by 2.7% if not for severe weather including snow, fog and strong winds.

Traffic at Heathrow was up by 4.3% – setting a record for the fifth month in a row – as the airport was well-prepared for the adverse weather.

But passenger numbers fell at BAA’s other five UK airports – Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Edinburgh was down by 3.9% with Aberdeen 1.9% lower and Glasgow 0.8% down. Stansted recorded a 7.6% drop in passenger numbers as low cost airlines relocated overseas.