Slump in UK Air Travel
by Admin on Nov.10, 2009, under Uncategorized
There has been a continued decline in the number of airline passengers travelling from the UK. All of the UK’s most popular and busy airports have reported further declines in passenger figures for the first 8 months of this year.
It is some of the most popular routes from the UK that are the most seriously affected with as much as a 16% fall in passengers travelling to Spain and a drop of one in ten travelling to the United States from London. Some regional UK airports are more badly affected than others with Prestwick reporting a fall in business of around 25% and Gatwick reporting a drop in passenger figures of around 2 million.
Business travellers are down by 15% in the first quarter of 2009, according to the Guild of Travel Management Companies. Surveys are indicating that this is the fourth consecutive quarter in which demand for air transport from the UK has decreased.
It is thought that the decline has been fuelled by the fall in value of sterling along with the recession. Many people have opted to staycation this year instead of flying to traditional holiday destinations in Spain or America.
There are some airlines making cutbacks due to this persistent decline in demand. BMIBaby, a popular budget airline, have announced that they will be shrinking by around one third during 2010 and expect to make cuts on routes from Cardiff, Birmingham and Manchester. Only last week British Airways announced that they would be reducing the number of cabin crew on flights from Heathrow from November the 16th due to the unprecedented losses suffered during the peak summer months.
There have been some optimistic reports of what are described as the green shoots of recovery suggesting that the worst of the recession is over. Unfortunately for the air transport industry it looks like there is some way to go before passenger figures return to the pre-recession highs.
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