Interesting changes at the world's biggest aviation hub....
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data_prov/200607/July_2006_Provisional_Airport_Statistics.pdf


London airports pax:

1) London Heathrow = 67,936,744
2) London Gatwick = 33,503,227
3) London Stansted = 23,166,399
4) London Luton = 9,353,390
5) London City = 2,198,527
London total = 136,158,287


The other four London airports have a combined passenger traffic of 68,221,543 - just ahead of Heathrow's total.

How are the growth numbers? I'd think Stansted is growing very rapidly to boost the base total.

^ Check the link - the growth percentages are there too.

Like I said in the UK Forum, I expect Heathrow to reclaim its lion share after 2008, and then lose it again soon after.

I think its better for London if its primary airport isn't so dominant, as long as all the airports are well connected by TfL.

^I agree, it's good to spread it around. Why would Heathrow go back down after 2008?

^ He means it will recapture its' >50% share of the London market after Terminal 5 opens but, unless an extra runway is added quickly, will soon run into a new buffer of limited runway capacity - after which its' share of London's total air traffic will decline again.

I see. How long will it be until Stansted overtakes Gatwick? In the next ten years?

^ Probably yes. However the gap is still pretty large - more than 10 million. Stansted will need an extra runway to pass Gatwick.

a lot of flights i have looked at from Canada and some from the states only use Gatwick - are the other airports listed like stanstead and Luton mainly for domestic or european flights?

^ Mainly European. Domestic flights account for less than 10% of traffic at all of London's big four airports. Stansted and Luton are gaining more services to the Middle East and North Africa. Luton will soon join Stansted with trans-Atlantic services too.

And Gatwick is more convenient to travel to anyway. Just get on the platform in Victoria and you're in Gatwick in no time!

And Gatwick is more convenient to travel to anyway. Just get on the platform in Victoria and you're in Gatwick in no time!

Not if you live in northwest London! When I first moved to the UK, I lived in Harrow-on-the-Hill. 20 minutes to LHR. Closer to 45 minutes to Gatwick. And if there's traffic...

Try getting to Heathrow Airport from the eastern side of town. You can either take a direct route through the city (traffic...), or take the M25 around the city which is very long.

^^

Yep. Which is why I live in NW London... ;)

Even then it can get bad. One time, it took me over an hour to navigate the 12 or so miles from Heathrow back home

Not if you live in northwest London! When I first moved to the UK, I lived in Harrow-on-the-Hill. 20 minutes to LHR. Closer to 45 minutes to Gatwick. And if there's traffic...

Oops I was comparing Gatwick with Stansted, but anyway Stansted might be nearer your home too since you live in Harrow?

Oops I was comparing Gatwick with Stansted, but anyway Stansted might be nearer your home too since you live in Harrow?

No worries -- my mistake! :)

Actually, we have a place in Rickmansworth now (near Chorleywood). I think Gatwick is still probably closer than Stansted, but the difference is marginal. Luton of course is v close...

^^ No wonder... That was far!!!

And Gatwick is more convenient to travel to anyway. Just get on the platform in Victoria and you're in Gatwick in no time!It takes 30 minutes to get to Gatwick from Victoria using the Gatwick Express. Meanwhile it takes only 15 minutes to get to Heathrow from Paddington using the Heathrow Express. Heathrow definitely has the best transport connections of any London airport.

Really? Luton having trans-Atlantic services? Next it'll be City!

"Terminal passengers". What is that-- boardings plus un-boardings? So connecting pax are counted twice? Or what?

"Terminal passengers". What is that-- boardings plus un-boardings? So connecting pax are counted twice? Or what?http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data/2005Annual/Foreward.pdf

A terminal passenger is a passenger joining or leaving an aircraft at the reporting airport. A passenger travelling between two reporting airports is counted twice, once at each airport. A passenger who changes from one aircraft to another, carrying the same flight number (change of gauge) is treated as a terminal passenger, as is an interlining passenger

A transit passenger (ed: these are not included in the terminal pax totals above) is a passenger who arrives at and departs from a reporting airport on the same aircraft which is transiting the airport. Each transit passenger is counted once only and not both on arrival and on departure.

I heard on the news that heathrow could have negative growth in 2006 (heathrow's growth rates are pretty minimal anyway) due to the terror-threat - this would create an even bigger gap between heathrow and the other airports. the last couple of days heathrow had significantly less passengers (not only heathrow btw ... all london airports) - even today 20 - 30% of flights are cut.

I heard on the news that heathrow could have negative growth in 2006 (heathrow's growth rates are pretty minimal anyway) due to the terror-threat - this would create an even bigger gap between heathrow and the other airports. the last couple of days heathrow had significantly less passengers (not only heathrow btw ... all london airports) - even today 20 - 30% of flights are cut.Yes but that will likely be temporary. It will only affect figures for this month. Heathrow sufferred strikes last summer so I'm not sure if this will necessarily reduce the annual total. Heathrow's growth has only been minimal this year and in 2005. In 2004 and earlier it was ~4-5% pa which compares to the other major European hubs. Once Heathrow Terminal 5 comes on line then expect a big leap, and if an additonal runway gets approved along with the Heathrow East project, then we could well see pax levels at well over 100million pa in the next decade or so.

Proposal to raise number of flights using Heathrow
11 November 2007
The Sunday Times

CONTROVERSIAL plans to increase the number of flights at Heathrow by one-third are to be unveiled by the government.

Aviation industry sources say ministers will release a long-awaited consultation document on the future of the airport by the end of the month.

It will propose a two-stage increase in flights -first, a jump in the number of planes using the airport's two runways, and second, the construction of a new third runway.

If adopted, the proposals would see the number of flights increase from the current 480,000 to 720,000 by the end of the next decade.

The number of passengers at the London hub would go up from the current 68m a year to more than 100m.

The plans are expected to attract protests from environmental groups, anti airport campaigners, and residents and local authorities close to the airport.

But the government is determined to press ahead, with ministers expected to argue that Heathrow is an important asset to the UK economy, and that it risks being overshadowed by rivals like Amsterdam's Schiphol and Paris's Charles de Gaulle.

The plan for more flights at Heathrow was first mooted by the government in a 2003 white paper. It said new runways should be built to relieve congestion at southeast airports, with the first at Stansted in Essex.

BAA, the owner of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, is expected to submit a planning application for the Stansted strip at the end of this year or early next.

The white paper also said a new runway was needed at Heathrow, but said it would have to wait until 2015 at the earliest while local problems with air quality were overcome.

Although the exact plans for the runway have yet to be released, environmental campaigners have estimated that they would require around 700 houses to be demolished.

While the new runway could not open until 2015 -and probably much later -more flights could be using Heathrow's current runways within two years.

This will be done by changing the way Heathrow operates. Under an agreement between the airport and local councils, the runways work in "segregated mode", with one used for takeoff and one for landing.

The consultation document will suggest a switch to "mixed mode" -where aircraft take off and land on each runway, as they do at most British airports. This would increase Heathrow's capacity from 480,000 flights a year to around 550,000.

* Transport secretary Ruth Kelly is shortly expected to announce an intention to relax curbs on hand baggage. The one-bag rule will be changed to allow passengers to take two bags on board aircraft.

(C) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2007