Soaring number of travellers at UK’s big airports
THE DEBATE over airport expansion took off again yesterday, with new passenger data showing both Heathrow and Gatwick enjoyed a record-breaking March.
Hub airport Heathrow saw 5.95m passengers travelling through it last month, up 3.4 per cent on March 2014, and helped by earlier Easter holidays.
Gatwick had 2.96m passengers pass through its doors during March 2015, an increase of 9.2 per cent on the year before. Last month was Gatwick’s twenty-fifth consecutive month of increasing passenger numbers.
Both airports saw growth on long haul routes.
The figures come as the rival airports continue to campaign hard to receive the nod for expansion from Sir Howard Davies, whose commission on airport expansion will deliver its findings after the General Election. It will determine the possible options for expanding Heathrow or Gatwick.
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “We can create jobs right across Britain if we make it easy to get there from anywhere in the UK… expanding Heathrow will connect all of Britain to global growth. Now, let’s get on with it.”
Gatwick’s chief executive, Stewart Wingate, put his case forward: “Expanding Gatwick would promote competition in the airport sector and keep travel affordable at a time of economic recovery.”