The number of passengers using BAA airports fell dramatically throughout late June and early July, with the British Airway strikes in June apparantly causing the drop in numbers. According to BAA, passenger numbers dropped by 1.7% in its airports over the last month (compared to the same period last year).
Although British Airways is denying that the strikes are entirely to blame, BAA have stated that if it wasn’t for the strike they’d have expected numbers to at least match last years.
British Airways staff (mainly cabin crew) were on strike for 9 days in June, and have so far taken 22 days off on strike since the new year started. BA claimed the amount of people it carried last month was down 11% due to the strikes, although it still had over 2.5 million customers.
BAA currently runs and operates six major UK airports, as it sold Gatwick in 2009 for a reported £1.5bn. BAA now operates Stansted, Heathrow, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Southampton and Aberdeen airports.
It’s really tough to tell how much the BA strikes have affected the BAA passenger numbers. Glasgow airport, who do see BA flights, saw a 7% decline in passengers from last year, although Stansted airport, which doesn’t have any BA flights, saw a 5.2% reduction from last year.
Perhaps BAA needs to do a better job with its airports, rather than simply blaming British Airways for their own internal strikes. Take Manchester Airport for example, they focus heavily on customer service, staff happiness and a high level of retail and functional facilities. They have seen a steady increase in business, passengers and critical acclaim over the last couple of year, and it’s almost certainly not a coincidence that their airport lounges & airport hotels are very highly thought of and rated, as are the staff and the Manchester Airport parking facilities are some of the best in the country.
