London Gatwick Airport pax stable, cargo up 25% in Jul-2012

UK's London Gatwick Airport passenger numbers stable - traffic highlights for Jul-2012:

• Passenger numbers: 3.6 million, -0.1% year-on-year;
  • UK and Channel Islands: 350,900, -2.3%;
  • Ireland: 118,600, -9.3%;
  • European scheduled: 2.0 million, +4.2%;
  • European chartered: 583,100, -12.7%;
  • North Atlantic: 203,300, -6.0%;
  • Other long-haul: 393,200, +9.2%;
• Cargo volume: 9079 tonnes, +25.1%;
• Aircraft movements: 23,913, -0.1%. [more - original PR]

The airport attributed new airlines operating routes to the Asian markets for the increased passenger numbers on long-haul routes outside of the North Atlantic.

London Gatwick Airport: "We saw only a marginal drop in passenger traffic in July compared to last year. This is in line with industry expectations where fewer Britons were predicted to travel abroad in favour of staying at home to soak up the Games," Nick Dunn, CFO. Source: Company statement, 14-Aug-2012.