BAA has reported a £224m loss for the year to date as passenger numbers slump for the seventh consecutive month, with the 6% drop to 12.4 million for October the biggest yet.Prospective buyers of Gatwick will be concerned by the sharp fall-off in passenger numbers. October’s slump follows a 5% drop in September and one of 1.7% in August, traditionally the airports’ busiest month.

In the nine months to the end of September, BAA reported a £465million drop in income from last year as it counted the cost of opening Terminal 5 and saw its financing bill more than double to £378million.
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