BAA, owner of London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, said its first-half loss widened as passenger traffic at the three terminals slumped amid the recession and pension costs increased.
The net loss at the company's three airports was £392.4 million compared with a loss of £98 million a year earlier, the London-based airport operator said today.
Sales advanced 13 per cent to £1.15 billion pounds while passenger numbers at the London airports dropped 7.4 per cent in the period to 55.2 million as carriers cut services, BAA said.
Ryanair, the biggest operator at Stansted, said last week it would slash its winter schedule there in part because of high fees.
"BAA's underlying financial performance remains in line with our expectations," chief executive officer Colin Matthews said in the statement.
"Trading conditions for the industry remain difficult and we remain focused on improving service standards and delivering a more efficient operation."
Passenger numbers have fallen for 14 consecutive months at BAA's seven UK airports as the recession has damped demand for air travel and airlines have pared back services to cut costs. Airlines may lose $9 billion this year and sales may drop 15 per cent, according to the International Air Transport Association's estimates.
BAA, owned by Spanish builder Grupo Ferrovial SA, is appealing a decision by the UK antitrust regulator to break up the company by forcing it to sell Gatwick and Stansted, as well as one of its bases in Scotland.
The disposal of Gatwick, which BAA put up for sale in September, has stalled after bidders, including Global Infrastructure Partners and Citi Infrastructure Investors, failed to meet BAA's asking price. BAA has said that it wants a "significant premium" over the £1.64 billion value estimated for Gatwick by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The company said in February that it expected to have completed the disposal in the first half of this year, and that it intended to use the proceeds to repay outstanding bank debt.
Bloomberg