BAA airports have seen the first rise in domestic traffic in two years.
Figures for last month show a 1.1% increase in UK passengers using the group’s airports.
The company handled 2.4% more passengers overall in February at 7.13 million against the same month last year which was affected by heavy snow across the UK.
European scheduled services recorded a 2.6% increase and North Atlantic traffic was up by 2.7% despite several periods of heavy snow in the Mid-West and North Eastern parts of the US.
Other long haul traffic rose by 4% overall with strong contributions from services to China (up 6.8%), the Middle East (up 11.1%) and South America (up 17.6%).
Heathrow traffic grew last month by 5.3%, making the London hub more “resilient” than other UK airports, BAA said.
The underlying figure - adjusted to take account of the weather problems last year - is 2.7%.
Stansted's traffic dropped by 4.5%, demonstrating that the market remains “challenging”.
Southampton grew 5.9% with most of the gain attributable to the recovery from bad weather this time last year.
Glasgow (down 5%) and Aberdeen (down 4.6%) were relatively unaffected by the snow of last year but Edinburgh (up 3.5%) gained not only because of weather but also from additional rugby-related traffic.
BAA CEO Colin Matthews said: “Heathrow remains resilient and other airports are beginning to see encouraging signs.
“However, traffic remains depressed, reflecting tough conditions in the economy generally and in aviation specifically.”
*Gatwick, no longer owned by BAA, handled 2,05 million passengers in February, a 3.2% rise year on year.
The greatest increase came from European scheduled services while domestic and other long haul routes saw growth of 4.7% and 7% respectively.
An airport spokesman said Gatwick "continues to recover well from the economic downturn".
Click here to view original article by Phil Davies, Wednesday 10th Match, 2010
