Britain's biggest airport operator BAA said today passenger traffic in January rose 7.4 per cent as stiff competition among airlines and lower ticket prices drove demand for travel.
BAA, whose seven airports include London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, said it carried 9.95 million passengers in the month. "More aggressive passenger marketing by airlines is believed to have driven growth at these airports," BAA said in a statement.
The increase also reflected a recovery in long-haul traffic compared to the previous period when global security fears, the SARS virus and weak economies impacted travel.
BAA said its North Atlantic and other long-haul service passenger numbers rose 5.6 per cent and 11.1 per cent respectively.
In Europe, more people also flew on cheap fares amid an aggressive marketing campaign by airlines. Short-haul European markets recorded an increase of 8.3 per cent in the period, but charter traffic fell.
BAA has flagged slower passenger growth next financial year as the rate of new people travelling comes off recent highs. The company said last month its performance in the three months end-March 2005 would hinge on how aggressively airlines market cheap fares and the Easter holiday in March.
Low-cost users easyJet, Ryanair and full-service carrier British Airways all reported solid rises in January traffic in the past two weeks. BAA shares closed yesterday at 618 pence.