NATS traffic up 25.6%, masks underlying fall in traffic

UK's NATS reports the number of UK flights increased 25.6% in Apr-2011, reflecting the ash cloud crisis of Apr-2010 that closed European airspace. The estimated underlying change for the month, ignoring the impact of the volcano, was a fall of 0.4%. The air navigation services provider added that figures were also affected by the additional Bank Holiday and the fact that there were two fewer working days in April 2011 than Apr-2010.

Traffic by market:

• Trans-Atlantic arrivals/departures: 10,477, +26.5%;
• Trans-Atlantic overflights: 15,906, +30.2%;
• Other arrivals/departures: 110,990, +27.6%;
• Other overflights: 8588, +34.9%;
• Domestic: 31,850, +15.0%.