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Heathrow busier than ever in July

Heathrow busier than ever in July

BAA is celebrating its latest passenger figures, with Heathrow handling a record 6.9 million passengers in July and Sunday July 31st remembered as the busiest day on record at the airport.

But, with transit through the airport fraught at the best of times, spare a thought for those millions stuck in queues at departures gates last month.

A total of seven of Heathrow’s top ten days for passenger numbers were recorded last month. Furthermore, at 84.7 per cent, the proportion of available aircraft seats filled was the most efficient ever achieved.

The total number of passengers at Heathrow during the last 12 months exceeded 68.5 million for the first time.

Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA, said: “The growth in passenger traffic at Heathrow in July is good news for UK jobs, tourism and growth. 

“Heathrow’s unique role in linking the UK to the world’s emerging markets is vital to Britain’s economic recovery.”

Across the UK

BAA’s six airports handled 11 million passengers in July, an increase of 0.8 per cent on July 2010.

Stansted handled 1.9 million passengers, a drop of 7.2 per cent, but did achieved its most efficient ever load factor of 88.5 per cent.

In addition, Southampton returned to growth with a 2.4% increase versus July 2010.

All three Scottish airports recorded increases in July, with Edinburgh rising 3.3 per cent to just short of one million passengers.

Glasgow was up by 0.5 per cent overall, due largely to a 45.7 per cent increase in traffic on scheduled European services.

Aberdeen saw growth in domestic traffic and even faster growth in international traffic, which helped it to reach an overall increase of 8.7 per cent.