Airport News

In total, they handled 228 million passengers during 2013, an increase of 3.5% (7.8 million) on 2012 and growth continues the recovery started in 2011 following three years of falling passenger numbers.

Passenger numbers for 2013 were 8.5% above 2010 levels (210 million), although still 4.8% below 2007’s peak of almost 240 million. 

At London airports – Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City and Southend – the increase was 3.5% to 140 million passengers.

Heathrow, Gatwick, London City and Southend each handled their highest ever annual total and 72.3 million passengers used Heathrow 3.4% more than in 2012, 34.2 million (3.5% more) used Gatwick, 3.4 million (12% more) used London City and Southend grew 57% from 617,000 to 970,000 passengers in the year.

Luton grew by 0.8% and, after five years of declining passenger numbers, Stansted grew by 2.2% to 17.8 million, while other UK airports outside London, traffic rose by 3.5% to 88.7 million passengers.

All airports with over a million passengers per year saw increases, with the exception of Liverpool and Belfast International, which saw declines of 6.1% and 6.7% respectively, while Manchester saw the largest absolute rise of one million passengers (5.2%) to 20 million.

Iain Osborne, director of regulatory policy at the CAA, says: “Our figures show the strength of underlying demand for air travel, which picked up well in advance of the general economy. Solid growth in UK GDP may mean that passenger numbers continue to grow healthily.

“This is happening despite a shortage of runway capacity in the South East, as for the time being airlines operating bigger and fuller aircraft is allowing passenger growth to outstrip growth in numbers of flights.

"The prospect of growth underlines how important it is for aviation to tackle its environmental impacts – notably, reducing aircraft noise and carbon emissions. Addressing these issues is vital if aviation is to grow."