Heathrow pax up 4% in Mar-2013, mixed results across different markets; 18m pax in 1Q2013
UK's Heathrow reported (12-Apr-2013) a 3.9% year-on-year increase in passenger numbers to a record 5.9 million for the month of March, and a 2.4 ppts increase in average load factor to 75.8%. The airport operator attributed the traffic growth to the integration of bmi into the British Airways network. European traffic increased 7.4%, despite the continuing weakness of the European economy. Amongst the countries where traffic increased were Italy (19.4%), France (18.9%), Germany (7.9%) and Norway (25.9%). Traffic to Greece fell 21.1%. All of the BRIC economies recorded growth, up 5.1% in total. China saw the strongest growth of 15.1%, followed by India (3.9%), Russia (3.0%) and Brazil (2.9%). Middle Eastern traffic was the fastest growing region, up 9.2%. Latin America also increased (3.9%), with a more modest 1.4% increase in traffic with North America. African routes saw a 5% decline in traffic. Details include:
- Mar-2013:
- Passenger numbers: 6.8 million, +3.3% year-on-year;
- UK: 957,500, -1.2%;
- Europe: 2.8 million, +6.3%;
- Africa: 321,300, -5.7%;
- North America: 1.3 million, +1.4%;
- Latin America: 85,700, +2.7%;
- Middle East: 530,600, +10.7%;
- Asia Pacific: 860,000, +1.0%;
- Cargo volume: 129,521 tonnes, -2.2%;
- Aircraft movements: 55,821, -2.8%;
- Passenger numbers: 6.8 million, +3.3% year-on-year;
- Three months ended 31-Mar-2013:
- Passenger numbers: 18.3 million, +1.4%;
- Cargo volume: 349,401, -3.7%;
- Aircraft movements: 157,599, -4.4%. [more - original PR]