London's Trafalgar Square in January
Heavy snow storms that pummelled London earlier this year have been blamed for a significant dip in passenger numbers at UK airports throughout January.
BAA has revealed that British airports handled a total of 7.2 million passengers last month – marking a significant 3.1 per cent fall on the same period last year.
Scotland was the worst affected region with traffic at Aberdeen Airport falling by 13.6 per cent, Glasgow Airport by 12.2 per cent and Edinburgh Airport by 7.4 per cent.
But London also contributed heavily to the downturn as four of the capital’s five main bases – Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport, Luton Airport and London City Airport – all closed their runways during the wintry blast. Heathrow Airport was the only base which managed to stay open.
Despite its resilience, the UK’s main hub still saw a 0.5 per cent dip in passenger numbers due to delays and cancellations, while Stansted Airport was down 5.6 per cent.
BAA chief executive Colin Matthews commented: "There is no doubt that the market remains a difficult one, and certainly the snow didn't help. But equally there are encouraging signs of growth, particularly on the routes out of Heathrow to the Middle East and South America, as well as cargo.
"This once again underlines Heathrow's role as the UK's only hub airport."
Londoners are bracing for a fresh blast of Arctic conditions to descend on the south-east over the next 48 hours, with the Met Office predicting up to 15cm of snow before the weekend.
© Cheapflights Ltd (Creative Commons image: sheilaellen / Flickr)
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