Half of airline passengers fly alone, while hardly anyone gets the traditional wave off.
The Civil Aviation Authority’s Passenger Survey Report reveals 49% of the 230 million passengers who used UK airports in 2013 travelled solo.
London City Airport had the highest proportion of lone passengers (74%) followed by Aberdeen (72%) with East Midlands having the least (24%).
Not surprisingly, the majority of solo passengers were on business (86%).
For other passengers, 64% of those visiting friends or relatives (VFR) travelled alone as did 19% of leisure passengers.
At the same time very few people received a wave off from a friend or loved one – customary of fond farewell, with just 4% getting waved off from the terminal building
The group most likely to be waved on their way was the VFR group, totalling 8%, of the airports surveyed.
Birmingham Airport topped the charts with 27% of VFR passengers getting waved off, followed by Newcastle Airport at 20%. Less than 2% of business passengers were waved off.
The CAA’s 2013 Passenger Survey Report also reveals London City has the highest proportion of passengers travelling for business (55%), with the next highest being Heathrow (30%) and travellers from Heathrow took a higher proportion of trips (23%) lasting more than two weeks, with London City lowest (3%). Outside London, Manchester had the most (14%).
CAA director of regulatory policy, Iain Osborne, said: "Do airports know how few people are being waved off, have they considered why and does this have implications for drop off facilities?
"While there are many excellent viewing facilities at UK airports, our passenger survey data tends to suggest they are not being used that much, and this may highlight a missed commercial opportunity."
