India-UK traffic hits Olympic slump
Airport traffic between the UK and India slumped in July as non-enthusiasts differed travel to avoid the Olympic Games.
British airports operator BAA reported a drop of 11% in passengers to and from Indian destinations during the month, while overall traffic was down across the company’s five airports by 4.1% to 9.6m.
“The drop was more pronounced in the second half of the month and it is likely that the Olympics played a part, with UK passengers staying at home as well as non-Olympic visitors from overseas choosing to defer their journeys,” BAA reported.
In other markets, European scheduled traffic fell 6.6%, North Atlantic traffic remained almost unchanged, whilst other long-haul routes had a collective decline of 6.3%. Bucking the trend however, were Brazil and China with 15% and 3.4% arrivals increases respectively.