BAA Ltd, owner and operator of six British airports including London Heathrow, has expressed satisfaction at the way the airports operated by the company were able to handle increased passenger numbers during the recently completed 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Colin Matthews, the company chief executive officer, said, ‘We are proud of Heathrow’s performance during London 2012, and warmly thank the volunteers, our own staff and the many other organisations who planned and delivered a warm and efficient welcome to Great Britain.
We intend to combine the best of the games experience with Heathrow’s ongoing investment programme to steadily improve the airport for our passengers and airlines.’
In spite of the Olympic rush, London Heathrow Airport recorded a 1.9 percent drop, to 6.5 million passengers in august 2012, compared to the figure for August 2011. The traffic downturn was at its lowest for the first two weeks of August 2012, showing a fall of 4.6 percent compared to the same period in 2011. This is thought to be due to UK residents opting to stay in the UK to cheer Team GB’s efforts in the games, and foreign travellers deciding to avoid the UK because of the Olympic rush.
The company has also reported a 2 percent decrease in passenger traffic across its other five airports during August, when the total passenger traffic was 9.5 million. Aberdeen Airport recorded the biggest drop in passenger traffic for the month, at 9.2 percent, compared to August 2011.
However cargo movement have shown an improvement, with a 2.6 percent increase over the five airports during the month, compared to the same period last year.
