More than one in 10 customers deserted Glasgow Airport in 2009, with around 7.2 million passing through its doors, while Edinburgh continued to buck the effects of the recession, with nine million taking flights through the year.
Disruption caused by the weather and the collapse of Scottish airline Flyglobespan dampened signs of a recovery last month, leading to the loss of around 150,000 passengers at the six airports owned by BAA, the group said in a statement.
Colin Matthews, BAA’s chief executive, warned that the problems of last year were yet to pass. “2009 was a difficult year for our airline customers. Towards the end of the year, we saw signs of improvements, particularly at Heathrow, but there are more challenging times ahead in 2010,” he said.
Aviation analysts said that Edinburgh Airport, which overtook Glasgow only in 2007, has benefited relative to the west
of Scotland as airlines have consolidated aircraft and routes.
Laurie Price, director of aviation strategy at Mott Macdonald, said: “Regional airports have suffered as a lot of carriers have consolidated back to the larger airports. That’s also true of London, where Stansted has seen bigger drops in passenger numbers than Heathrow and Gatwick.
“If you’re going to choose one airport in Scotland as a destination, then it would tend to be Edinburgh rather than Glasgow. For Europeans flying into Scotland that would still probably be the first choice of destination.”
Glasgow’s troubles have been exacerbated by competition from nearby Prestwick Airport which, according to the most recent passenger figures available, has seen an even more dramatic downturn. The airport lost more than a quarter of its passengers last November, compared to the year before, as no-frills airline Ryanair -- which has been expanding from its base in Edinburgh -- cut back on capacity.
The loss of passengers due to the cold weather, with dozens of flights being cancelled at the start of the busy holiday season, disguised a gradual stabilisation in passenger numbers in the last quarter of 2009 across the BAA group.
Heathrow, Britain’s biggest airport and only international hub, saw a 1.2% growth in passenger numbers last month, rounding off a year in which heavy losses have been offset in part by the success of Terminal 5 in expanding capacity.
BAA, which is owned by Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial, saw off an order by the Competition Commission which would have led to it being forced to sell three airports -- Gatwick, Stansted then either Edinburgh or Glasgow -- following an appeal that its investigation was marred by “perceived bias”.
BAA has already sold Gatwick, setting up the sale process in anticipation of the Commission’s ruling but the decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal last month means it can avoid selling either of the Scottish airports at a heavily discounted price.
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