THE decline in passenger numbers at Stansted Airport steepened last month, owner BAA said today.

The airport handled just under 1.64million passengers in October, down 4.9% on the same month last year, following a 4% decline in September.

Last month’s figure means that Stansted’s cumulative total for 2011 so far is now 2.4% down compared with the same stage in 2010, at 15.75million.

And the rolling annual total for the airport is now 3.4% lower compared with the previous 12 months at 18.18million.

BAA said October’s decline in numbers at Stansted was part of a wider softening in demand during the month, with Heathrow also seeing a fall, of 1.3%, to 6.02million, and the group’s overall total declining by a similar margin to 9.62million.

The decline at Stansted, and a 3% fall in numbers at Southampton, was offset by growth at the group’s three Scottish airports, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, which saw a combined increase of 2.1%.

BAA, which is still fighting a Competition Commission ruling that it must sell Stansted, said the Essex airport’s latest decline reflected capacity reductions by carriers, particularly on domestic routes, although 81.8% of seats on planes in and out of Stansted were filled – a record for October.

BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said: “The reduction in passengers at Heathrow is indicative of the softening in the global economy. We remain cautious about predicting growth in the coming months.”