Strikes by British Airways cabin crew had a negligible impact on overall passenger numbers at Heathrow in June, but regional airports were hit sharply.
Airports operator BAA reports Heathrow suffered a 0.1% fall in passenger traffic last month compared with June 2009. However, passengers were 7% down at Glasgow year on year and 4% down at Aberdeen.
Heathrow saw 3.2% fewer flights in and out, suggesting BA managed to place passengers on cancelled services on other flights.
The airport to suffer the biggest loss of traffic, Stansted, was unaffected by the BA strike. It saw almost 100,000 fewer passengers in June than a year ago – a fall of 5.2%.
This followed an 11.5% drop in passengers through the airport in June 2009, suggesting no-frills traffic has not been immune to the economic downturn.
Total monthly traffic at BAA’s six UK airports was down 1.7%, compared with a 5.9% decline at the same time last year. Passenger numbers for the year to date were 5.5% down on the first half of 2009, reflecting the six-day grounding of aircraft in April due to volcanic ash.