BAA’s Scottish airports outperformed the rest of its UK operations last month, according to latest passenger figures. BAA currently runs six airports in the UK – Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
User numbers at Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh were up year-on-year by 2.1% – contrasting markedly with a fall at BAA’s three English airports: Heathrow, Stansted and Southampton.
Aberdeen showed strong performance with a 7.6% increase in passengers in October. Glasgow was up by 0.3% on a year ago and recorded increases of 35% in European scheduled traffic and 47% in North Atlantic passengers.
Edinburgh Airport, which is being put up for sale, saw a healthy 1.8% rise in passenger numbers last month. Growth was aided by nearly 20 new routes operating at the airport since the beginning of 2011.
BAA’s Edinburgh Airport figures contrast markedly with BAA’s London Heathrow passenger numbers which fell by 1.3% – the first monthly fall since December 2010 – overall the company saw a 9.9% fall in domestic UK traffic.
Edinburgh airport is to be sold in 2012 after competition regulators ordered BAA to sell off one of its Scottish hubs.
Several groups are currently lining up to prepare a bid for Edinburgh airport. US private equity group Carlyle Group has already confirmed it is leading a consortium with a view to launching a bid.
BAA said its overall dip at UK airports last month reflected weak global economic conditions.