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Jim Mason · Guest

CAA publishes Air Passenger Survey

Date: 24 October 2006

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) today published its 2005 air passenger
survey, which questioned 200,000 people at 14 UK airports about their
travel habits.

CAA data shows that the proportion of travellers using UK regional airports
continues to grow strongly. Last year, 95 million (43 per cent) passengers
flew from a regional airport compared with 87 million in 2004 ? an increase
of nine per cent. In 2005 132 million (57 per cent) passengers used one of
the four London airports surveyed (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton),
an increase of four per cent since 2004.

Around 30 per cent of the UK?s passengers travelled from Heathrow, followed
by 14 per cent at Gatwick, ten per cent at Manchester, ten per cent at
Stansted and four per cent each at Luton, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

For its 2005 annual passenger survey, the CAA interviewed passengers at the
four airports surveyed in and around London as well as at Aberdeen,
Bournemouth, Durham Tees Valley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Leeds
Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Prestwick. Key findings showed that:

- Dublin was the most popular destination for leisure passengers at the
four London airports, followed by New York (JFK), Edinburgh, Malaga and
Amsterdam. Edinburgh was the most popular route for business passengers
from the London airports, followed by Amsterdam, Glasgow, Dublin and Paris
(Charles de Gaulle);

- Across the regional airports surveyed, Alicante, Palma and Tenerife were
the most popular international destinations for leisure passengers and the
most popular long haul points were Orlando (Sanford), New York (Newark) and
Dubai. Business travel on scheduled routes from the surveyed regional
airports was dominated by travel to London, where 69 per cent of passengers
completed their journey. The remaining 31 per cent connected to an onward
air service;

- Across all the airports surveyed, around 43 per cent of UK passengers had
made more than three return trips in the preceding 12-month period. At
Luton and Stansted this figure was 50 per cent, 42 per cent at Gatwick and
39 per cent at Heathrow. Inverness had the highest percentage of frequent
travellers, with 73 per cent flying at least three times in the preceding
12 months, whilst Prestwick had the lowest figure at 25 per cent;

- Business passengers accounted for over 56 per cent of all passengers
using Aberdeen, the highest proportion in the survey. This compared with 36
per cent at Inverness, 35 per cent at Heathrow and 30 per cent at Glasgow;

- Bournemouth Airport attracted the largest proportion of leisure
passengers at just over 95 per cent, compared with 94 per cent at
Prestwick, 83 per cent at Gatwick and 80 per cent at Manchester;

- The proportion of passengers changing planes was significantly smaller at
the regional airports surveyed with the exception of Aberdeen, where 10 per
cent of traffic connected with oilrigs or the Scottish Isles. This compared
with around 35 per cent at Heathrow, 17 per cent at Gatwick, 12 per cent at
Stansted, seven per cent at Luton and three per cent at Manchester;

- UK business passengers using Heathrow had the highest average incomes at
£79,000, compared with £67,000 at Gatwick and Luton Airports and £57,000 at
Stansted. North of the border, average business incomes were lower, at
£53,000 in Edinburgh and £50,000 at Aberdeen;

- The highest proportion of non-UK residents using a UK airport was
recorded at Heathrow at just over 53 per cent with the lowest, nine per
cent, at Durham Tees Valley. At Stansted it was 37 per cent, Luton 30 per
cent and Newcastle 11 per cent;

- The most popular method of transport to many of the surveyed airports was
by car, used by 78 per cent of passengers at Bournemouth, 58 per cent at
Manchester, and the lowest, 33 per cent, at London Heathrow. The capital
had the highest proportion of public transport users at 36 per cent, up
from the 34 per cent recorded in 2004. The lowest public transport usage
was at Leeds Bradford at six per cent;

- The household income of UK leisure passengers at Gatwick was around
£52,000 per annum, slightly more than their counterparts at Stansted
(£51,000) and Luton (£50,000) but considerably more than passengers using
Manchester (£39,000), Bournemouth (£37,000) and Prestwick (£41,000);

- The highest average passenger age was 45 at Durham Tees Valley, and the
lowest 36 at Prestwick. At Glasgow the figure was 43, at Gatwick and
Inverness it was 42, while it was 40 at Luton.

The survey will be used to help airlines, airport operators and the
Government to determine future passenger needs.

Key statistics for individual UK airports are available at
www.caa.co.uk/airportstatistics.

A summary of the survey will soon be available to download for free from
the Civil Aviation Authority?s website (www.caa.co.uk). A more detailed
analysis can be obtained by organisations or individuals for prices
starting at £100.

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