A spokesman for BAA has stated that the company is facing a tough 2010 with Heathrow the only one of its six airports to register a rise in traffic. Its Scottish airports namely Edinbirgh Glasgow and Aberdeen were badly hit by the collapse of Flyglobespan late last year , and the recent adverse weather has added to their woes.
The number of people travelling from BAA airports fell by nearly two per cent last month due largely to the icy weather compared with December 2008, when overall figures fell by 0.9 per cent to eight million.
It is roughly estimated that the dreadful weather conditions accounted for the loss of 150,000 passengers at BAA’s airports across the country.
Airports across the world face additional fees of as much as €50,000 a week for additional security,as a result of the failed bomb attack by a Nigerian student on a Detroit-bound flight last month.
BAA has still not calculated the costs associated with this latest measure, but it will have at least four full-body scanning devices in place at Heathrow by the end of January.
However, passenger numbers at Heathrow in December were boosted by greater European traffic as well as more long-haul flights to Asia and Africa. Increases in the number of European scheduled fights – as opposed to holiday resort-bound chartered flights – also helped lift passenger numbers.
Stansted has been especially hit by the reduction in operations there by low-cost airlines.
The collapse of the major carrier Globespan was also partly to blame for a more severe decline in traffic at Scottish airports ,along with the severe weather last month being a significant factor in the decline of travellers.