AIRLINE passengers are rejecting Heathrow in favour of regional airports following disruption caused by the security alert in August, according to Lufthansa.
The German carrier recorded a 17% drop in business-class traffic from Heathrow a week after the alert, yet traffic through London City, Birmingham International and other airports showed an increase.
Lufthansa passenger numbers from the UK in August were 6% up on a year ago, and UK and Ireland general manager Dieter Grotepass said 45% of UK departures were now from the regions.
He said: “Growth from regional airports has been up 10%-12% since July and is increasing, especially from Manchester and Birmingham,” he said.
The airline’s schedule for the coming winter reflects the trend, with an increase in services, frequencies and capacity at regional airports.
Details, including new routes from London City operating from October 29, were to be finalised this week.
Lufthansa added services from Birmingham and Manchester to Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf earlier this year, with 60% of its UK traffic flying beyond Germany from these hubs.
The regional expansion is partly driven by lack of capacity at Heathrow, where Lufthansa operates out of Terminal 2, and Grotepass expressed frustration at the congestion. “Heathrow will be a construction area for six years,” he said, revealing the airline will consider launching from other UK airports, including Bristol, Cardiff and Southampton, next year.
Demand in the UK is driving growth, despite low-cost competition.
“Italy is a strong market for us from the UK. We don’t have to advertise. We can transfer spare capacity to the UK and sell it fast when there’s an attractive price. My only problem is competition for seats. When demand is strong in Germany, I don’t get so much capacity for the UK [because yield is lower].”
Lufthansa expects a further 6% growth in UK traffic next year.
Low-costs can’t stop business class booming
BUSINESS-class traffic is booming even on routes saturated by low-cost carriers, says Lufthansa.
UK general manager Dieter Grotepass reported a 12.5% growth in business-class traffic in the six months to July, compared with the same period in 2005.
The airline’s business-class traffic to Germany is up by even more, showing a 19% increase year on year.
Yet the number of flights between the UK and Germany has exploded since 2003, with EasyJet, Ryanair, Air Berlin,
Germanwings and Hapag-Lloyd Express offering extensive services alongside BMI and British Airways.
“Maybe it’s because airlines such as BA Connect and BMI have given up their business class,” said Grotepass. “Bankers are still finding a way to fly business class.”