British airport operator BAA said today that May passenger traffic rose 5 per cent from a year ago as all its airports recorded higher traffic.
BAA, whose seven airports include London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, said it carried 12.3 million passengers in the month compared to 11.7 million a year before.
It said Flybe's expansion of routes helped Southampton's passenger numbers rise the fastest, up 30.4 per cent, while Stansted numbers increased 10.7 per cent.
In the 12 months to the end of May, BAA's UK airports handled 142.4 million passengers, an increase of 4.9 per cent on the previous 12 months.
Low-cost airlines have driven passenger growth in recent years, and BAA said European traffic rose 7.4 per cent in the month.
Passenger numbers in the short-haul charter market fell by 8.6 per cent, while North Atlantic traffic rose 2.3 per cent.
Other long-haul routes continued a trend of strong growth, rising 8.1 per cent in the month. The company has previously flagged a slowdown in the recent high rate of passenger growth this financial year.