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UK Airports Welcomed 20 Million Passengers In March
According to data just released from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the country’s airports welcomed 19.84 million passengers in March. Traffic was +42.0% versus the coronavirus-hit March last year. However, it was -12.1% versus the same month in 2019.
The 10 most recovered airports: March
Some airports far outperformed the -12.1% of the country as a whole. Examining CAA data for the 32 airports with 10,000+ March passengers (down from 36 in 2019) shows that just four exceeded their pre-pandemic traffic.
|
Airport |
Mar 2023 passengers vs. 2019 |
March 2023 passengers |
|---|---|---|
|
Bournemouth |
+12.0% |
44,161 |
|
Teesside |
+11.1% |
12,944 |
|
Sumburgh |
+9.8% |
20,277 |
|
Bristol |
+4.2% |
648,477 |
|
Prestwick |
-1.0% |
25,280 |
|
Leeds Bradford |
-4.3% |
235,958 |
|
London Heathrow |
-4.5% |
6,234,096 |
|
London Stansted |
-6.5% |
1,969,449 |
|
Manchester |
-7.3% |
1.914,129 |
|
London Luton |
-7.9% |
1.245,137 |
Aside from Bristol, the UK’s eighth-busiest airport, the other three are, of course, small. They accounted for less than half of one % of the country’s traffic. Nonetheless, they still grew.
Bournemouth tops the table
Located near Southampton on England’s South Coast, Bournemouth’s March traffic was +12.0% over March 2023. It was the UK’s 24th busiest airport, up three places versus the pre-pandemic.
Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying.
Bournemouth’s recovery was more than twice as strong as February (+5.0%). It was mainly the result of the airport’s destination network growing from 12 to 17, including because of the start of the northern aviation summer season.
Budapest, Edinburgh, Girona, Paphos, and Palma operated in March but not in February. Ryanair reintroduced Edinburgh-Bournemouth on March 26th, having last served it in March 2010.
Click here for Edinburgh-Bournemouth flights.
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The 10 least recovered airports: March
Of airports with 10,000+ passengers, Exeter was the least recovered. With nearly 25,000 passengers, it had -63.8% of the traffic in 2019. As with Southampton, Cardiff, and Newquay, Exeter remains considerably impacted by the exit of the first Flybe. The first three mentioned below had fewer than half of the passengers in March 2019.
|
Airport |
Mar 2023 passengers vs. 2019 |
March 2023 passengers |
|---|---|---|
|
Exeter |
-63.8% |
24,749 |
|
Southampton |
-57.7% |
60,667 |
|
Cardiff |
-54.8% |
44,798 |
|
Newquay |
-37.2% |
15,737 |
|
London City |
-31.9% |
289,335 |
|
City of Derry |
-29.6% |
11,764 |
|
East Midlands |
-27.8% |
183,500 |
|
Isle of Man |
-27.2% |
51,471 |
|
Liverpool |
-24.8% |
287,818 |
|
Aberdeen |
-22.6% |
173,898 |
Photo: Exeter Airport.
London City remained down from the continuing recovery of business traffic and the absence of Flybe. The airport’s March network comprised 27 destinations, reduced from 35 in 2019. Frequencies to core destinations were considerably lower than previously. In contrast, while Liverpool had a quarter of its 2019 traffic, it will benefit enormously from next year’s arrival of Jet2.
Cardiff’s recovery slower than in February
Of the four least recovered airports, Cardiff’s recovery was slightly slower in March (-54.8%) than in February (-54.2%). In contrast, Newquay, which revolves around inbound summer tourism, improved from -54.4% to -37.5%. It should keep recovering as the peak and all-important summer months approach.
Which UK airports will you be flying from this year? Let us know in the comments.
