BAA Losses At £546m as Passenger Numbers Drop

The BAA has lost £546m in the first half of this year from its three Airports in London, as the company wrote down the value of its aging terminals at Heathrow and moved money into its pension scheme.

The recession has hit the aviation industry hard with passenger numbers dropping by 7.4% to 4.4 million passengers, using Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted in the first half of this year.  However airport retail sales went up by 7.3% to an average spend of £4.72 per passenger.

BAA’s unpopular decision to increase fees has pushed up income by 24% which brought the groups aeronautical income up to £624m.

Colin Matthews, the chief executive, said: “BAA’s underlying financial performance remains in line with our expectations. I am particularly pleased that Heathrow continues to show its resilience, but trading conditions for the industry remain difficult.”

Of the three London airports, Heathrow is holding up best in terms of traffic. More than 31.2 million travellers used the hub between January and June, only 3.9 per cent fewer than in the same period the year before. But passenger numbers at Stansted fell by 14.4 per cent, or 1.6 million people, as its main airlines, Ryanair and easyJet, cut capacity to cope with the recession.

Thanks to the Independent for the quotes.  For more information, visit the independent.co.uk