Heathrow and Gatwick release monthly stats
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London’s two main airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, have released their most recent statistics revealing how the two hubs have been performing.
Heathrow saw around 5.8 million passengers in April which represents a 0.7% decrease year-on-year (y-o-y). Gatwick on the other hand witnessed a 0.4% increase, with numbers hitting 2.73 million from 2.72 million last year.
The decrease in traffic at London’s main hub was put down to Easter falling in March this year, a fact that had no effect on Gatwick’s results. However the airport stressed that the combined figures for March and April were up 1.6% y-o-y. The airport also said the Civil Aviation Authority’s price cap proposal had also had a negative effect.
Interestingly Heathrow also reported an increase in the average size of aircraft, at 2.7%, however the airport’s load factor was significantly lower than Gatwick’s at 74.3% in comparison to the latter’s 80.2%.
Gatwick also revealed an increase in long haul services to regions including Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Caribbean.
Nick Dunn, Gatwick Airport’s chief financial officer, said: “It is pleasing to see the trend for long haul growth continuing at London Gatwick, with several key carriers expanding their frequencies and routes this month. This activity highlights the strength of Gatwick’s offering to its airlines and showcases the routes to key emerging markets that we are able to support.
“While this month also saw growth in scheduled European services, largely thanks to new airlines such as Vueling and the expansion of Norwegian Air Shuttle, it is also important to note that economic conditions in Europe remain challenging and we expect this trend to continue for the immediate future.”
Heathrow’s main win was its customer satisfaction rating, which had risen from first quarter 2012 – to 3.99 from 3.92.
Chief executive for Heathrow, Colin Matthews, said: “The record customer satisfaction scores achieved last quarter are a result of joint work with airlines and our strong investment. We want to keep making Heathrow better for our passengers and airlines by continuing to invest. We operate in a global competitive market for debt and equity capital, and the CAA must set the allowed returns at a competitive level in order for those investments and improvements to continue.”