Passenger Decline

by Raj Sandhu (24 March 2010)

Figures have revealed the extent to which the recession affected airports in Britain. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) found airports experiencing the largest annual fall in 65 years.

The CAA published the report into passenger figures on Monday. London Heathrow saw a drop of 1.5% in 2009 since 2008, with 66 million passengers passing through. Gatwick Airport saw a drop of around 5%. Collectively Britain’s airports passenger figures fell by 7.3%, handling 16 million fewer passengers.

By the end of 2009 airports were seeing a small rise as passengers began flying again. The sharp fall during the recession clearly shows the impact it had on family holidays as people flew less.

CAA Economic Regulation Director, Harry Bush said: “These figures show the biggest fall in passenger numbers since the Second World War, highlighting the enormous impact the recession has had on the aviation industry.

“Passenger numbers are now back to the level they were six years ago and, although they will certainly rebound, the pace of recovery is uncertain and it could be a number of years before they reach their peak level again.”

The report also showed that this was the first time that numbers consecutively for two years. There was also a shift in domestic travel, which fell by 8% as only 21 million passengers used domestic flights for the UK. Many people opted for rail, a steadily growing trend that has been evident for several years now.

John Stewart from Stop Heathrow Expansion group told Public Sector Travel: “Although Heathrow is holding up better than other airports, today’s figures suggest that the country can live without a third runway.”

In the past five years, figures from the East Coast train operator showed an increase from 12% in 2005 to 23% in January 2010 in its rail travel market between Edinburgh and London.

London taxis will have also felt the affect of recession, as people decided to take tubes and buses on short journeys.

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