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Confidence returns to air travel
Passenger numbers from UK airports rose 6.3% to a record 142 million in 2004/05 as fears over the Gulf War and SARS finally began to subside.
The growth helped the British Airports Authority report a group operating profit of £668 million in the 12 months to March 31, an 11.7% increase on the previous year.
Reflecting a return in consumer confidence following a turbulent period, BAA revealed passenger numbers from Heathrow rose 5.3% to 67.7 million with Gatwick traffic up 6.5% to 32 million and Stansted up more than 9% to 21.2 million, the latter’s performance triggered by the introduction of new routes.
New long haul services from Glasgow and Edinburgh and the increase in domestic and European flights from Aberdeen helped the three Scottish airport welcome 19 million passengers, 6% more than the previous 12 months. Southampton, meanwhile, grew almost 13% to 1.5 million passengers.
On the operating side, BAA said Heathrow Terminal 5 was now 60% complete, ahead of schedule and on budget. It is due to open in March 2008. Agreements have also been reached with Star Alliance and Virgin to redevelop Terminals 1 and 3 over the next seven years.
Elsewhere, Heathrow Express reported an underlying profit of £16 million, up £2 million, with passenger volume growing 3%. Plans are also on track to launch a Heathrow Connect stopping service in the next three months.
BAA chief operating office Mike Clasper said: “This is another good set of results. [It] gives me confidence that we can sustain growth and translate our forecast rise in London passenger traffic of 3.5% into another robust financial performance for 2005/06.”
Report by Steve Jones
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