BAA numbers boosted by lack of snow

13/01/12

By Emma McFarnon

The snow-free December prevented a major headache for airlines, but it also helped boost BAA passenger numbers.

After breathing a sigh of relief that the month passed without the white stuff, BAA has revealed a 4.4 per cent increase in passengers at its six UK airports last year.

In stark contrast to Christmas 2010, when thousands had to camp overnight following heavy snowfall, BAA enjoyed its busiest ever December at Heathrow last month, handling nearly 5.52 million travellers.

Edinburgh Airport also saw record passenger numbers in 2011, with the figure rising 9.2 per cent to more than 9.38 million.

Over the year, passenger numbers at Glasgow rose 5.1 per cent to 6.86 million, while the Aberdeen figure was up 11.8 per cent to 3.10 million.

The company said there was a record 476,197 flights at Heathrow, 99.2 per cent of the west London airport's annual limit of 480,000.

However, BAA acknowledged that although the total number of passengers at the six airports rose 4.4 per cent, after taking into account exceptional events in 2010, such as British Airways strikes, the Icelandic volcanic ash and snow disruption, the underlying increase for the year was 0.9 per cent.