The UK CAA has published traffic figures for October 2009.With the exceptions of DUB-LHR (Aer Lingus / BMI) DUB-STN (Ryanair) and BFS-LGW (Aer Lingus) the bloodbath of red ink on passenger figures in recent months does appear to have slowed if not stopped altogether on routes between London and Ireland, north and south. The trend was first noted in September so hopefully the recession has bottomed out in air travel.
Dublin-London
Dublin's Gatwick traffic
which is split between Ryanair and Aer Lingus showed no YoY growth at
93,986. Heathrow and Stansted both showed negative trends with LHR down
13% again this month to 133,456 passengers and Stansted (a Ryanair
preserve) again down 18% to 69,331. Luton was down 1% YoY at 29,975. Once
again no surprises with the trend following previous months with
Gatwick and Luton remaining relatively unscathed at the expense of
Stansted and Heathrow.
Cork-London
At Cork, Gatwick traffic
was down 3% to 9,598. Heathrow was down 2% to 42,349 while Stansted, a
Ryanair route was up 5% to 27,349.
Shannon-London
Shannon has fared similar
to Dublin and Cork with Gatwick showing no YoY change for the month at 17,788
and Stansted down 6% YoY, to 27,645. On the Heathrow - Shannon route the
total for the month was 14,250, recovering from September's dip.
Belfast-London
On the Belfast City -
Heathrow route, BMI will be well pleased with its October
performance where it managed a 3% YoY
growth on the route with 46,326 passengers. Over at Aldergrove, Aer
Lingus has seen its slide on the - Heathrow route continue with a 6%
YoY decline with 23,132 passengers.
BMI 1-0 Aer Lingus once again.
On the Belfast City
- London Gatwick route, operated by FlyBe, passenger figures are up 25%
YoY at 19,494. EasyJet's Belfast
International - Gatwick route suffered again this month with a 18% YoY
fall in numbers to 25,769 although this figure still represents a higher monthly total than in September.
FlyBe 1-0 easyJet. From January next, easyJet will be moving its Belfast - Luton service from Aldergrove to City. Is this the start of a trend designed to claw back market share ?