UK Airport Numbers Up Despite Concerns

UK Airport Numbers Up Despite Concerns 
Guardian, UK

Wednesday February 11, 2004 

BAA, the airports operator, today reported an increase
in passenger traffic in January despite security
scares and weather disruptions.

The number of people using BAA's seven airports,
including Heathrow, rose 4.8% to 9.3 million, in line
with projections of 4% growth for the year to the end
of March. Particularly heartening for airlines such as
British Airways was a 10% jump in long-haul flights.
BA relies heavily on long-haul flights for its
profits.

"North Atlantic traffic rose by 2.3% despite weather
disruptions and intensified security measures," BAA
said in a statement, 

BAA has said growing confidence among airlines and a
solid economy would sustain passenger growth after it
unveiled an 8% rise in third-quarter operating profit,
helped by higher landing charges and retail income at
Heathrow. 

Today's news should allay concerns at major airlines
that recent security concerns will have a negative
impact of future air travel. BA this month warned that
security fears were having an impact on forward
bookings after it had to cancel flights to and from
the US, following US intelligence alerts.

BAA reported growth in all its airports in the
south-east, particularly at Southampton, where traffic
surged 84% last month with the continued growth of
low-cost operator FlyBe. Growth in Scotland tailed off
as traffic rose just 0.1% compared to a year ago. Last
year, Scottish airports experienced very strong growth
of low-fare services, as airlines entered a period of
aggressive marketing and the market has cooled since
then.

BAA draws its income from airline take-off and landing
fees, car parks, retail rent, airport advertising and
its duty-free shops and is not as sensitive as
airlines to economic conditions.




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