UK airports endure disappointing winter

The UK’s airports endured a fairly poor winter season with traffic growth averaging well under 2% across the country, after adjusting for the extra day in February. Figures were not helped by the well-publicised events at Heathrow and by on-going concerns about the UK economy.

Source: UK CAA

London City remains the star performer in the region though Luton came close to matching it in March. Stansted is showing signs of recovering from its winter slump caused by the voluntary grounding of some of Ryanair’s fleet for economic reasons. Heathrow suffered first from the BA crash landing in late January that impacted operations for several days, and then the problems associated with T5 right at the end of March. Gatwick’s growth in March was its highest for over a year.

Source: UK CAA

Ryanair’s decision to base aircraft at Belfast City has given a massive boost to the airport’s traffic figures. While Edinburgh and Glasgow Prestwick continue to report consistent growth Glasgow continues to struggle and has now been joined by Aberdeen in reporting a traffic downturn over the winter period. Aberdeen though should benefit from the recent start of several new routes by Flybe.

Source: UK CAA

Over the winter period East Midlands enjoyed the highest year-on-year growth in passenger numbers while Newcastle reported traffic declines of 5% or more throughout the period.

Source: UK CAA

The curious looking dips and peaks this January at Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter relate to the events of last January when for several days certain airlines rerouted Bristol flights to neighbouring airports due to concerns about runway conditions during periods of heavy precipitation.