BAA losses narrow after record Heathrow passenger numbers
Heathrow airport passenger numbers rose five per cent to a record 69.4m last year, helping BAA to narrow its losses.
The airport operator made a loss of £255.8m in the year to 31 December, compared with£316.6m the year before.
Passengers at its Stansted airport dropped by by 2.8 per cent to 18m.
The company said the total number of passengers at its airports rose 3.7 per cent to 87.4m.
BAA said: “Growth [at Heathrow] was particularly strong, with countries such as the US, Germany, Switzerland, France and Brazil.
“Of Heathrow’s major markets, European traffic showed the most significant year-on-year growth, increasing 7.6 per cent to 28.5m passengers.”
Heathrow operates at almost full capacity and BAA said the airport used a record 99.2 per cent of its maximum permitted annual arrivals and departures last year.
BAA said this meant it was unable to keep up with demand for new routes to growing markets in places in Asia, such as Manila, Shenzhen and Jakarta.