Stansted: Airport passengers numbers fall again

PASSENGER numbers at Stansted Airport continued to fall last month, but at a slight slower rate.

Owner BAA, which is in the process of selling Stansted following a ruling by the Competition Commission, said the airport handled 1.64milllion passengers during September, 4.0% down on the same month a year earlier.

Stansted’s year-to-date total is now 4.6% down at 13.45million, while its rolling 12-month total is 4.8% down at 17.39million.

However, Stansted again saw strong cargo growth last month, with the tonnage handled rising by 5.2% compared with September last year.

Heathrow saw 6.35 million passengers pass through its terminals, a record for September and up 0.6% on the same month last year.

Overall, BAA said nearly 9.19million passengers passed through its five airports in September 2012, the same as September 2011 and an improvement on the falls of 4.1% in July and 2.0% in August.

Numbers at Southampton fell by 4.4% but Glasgow and Aberdeen recorded browth of 5.6% and 1.4% respectively.

BAA Chief Executive Colin Matthews said: “Heathrow saw record passenger numbers in September. Traffic to and from the BRIC economies, other than India, demonstrates the on-going importance of hub capacity to connect the UK to growth markets. The Davies Commission must rigorously and objectively assess every option to meet our country’s economic needs.”