The Last Minute Travel Fact Center

The number of air passengers travelling from the UK has continued to fall. 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 airports are more acutely affected by the downturn in business than others with Gatwick reporting a drop in passenger figures of around 2 million and Prestwick airport reporting as much as a 25% reduction in business.

The Guild of Travel Management Companies has reported that the number of business travelers taking flights was down by 15% in the third quarter of 2009. 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 British holidaymakers have opted to stay at home this year instead of flying to traditional vacation destinations in Spain or America.

There are some airlines making cutbacks due to this persistent decline in demand. BMIBaby have announced that they will be making cuts in routes from Cardiff, Birmingham and Manchester as a result of the continued downturn in business. 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.

It has been reported that we are through the worst of the recession and that there is now evidence of the green shoots of recovery. 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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