Passenger Numbers Take-Off at London's Airports

London Gatwick, Heathrow, Glasgow and Edinburgh are to name but a few airports who have recorded an increase in passenger numbers- many of which have succeeded passenger numbers for the first time since 2008 when the nation went into the great recession.

There were 73.4 million passengers passing through Heathrow in 2014, while 38 million people passed through Gatwick – further evidence for both London airports that they need to be expanded with an extra runway.

Both airports have been producing advertising campaigns to back up their arguments, and each airport has argued that such a development would be crucial to the future of both the airport and the nation’s economy.

Glasgow Airport was another UK airport to register the increases, with its busiest year in 2014 since the recession began in 2008. More than 7.7 million passengers travelled through its doors in 2014, with almost 520,000 passengers passing through the gates in December alone.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport said: 2014 was a remarkable year for Glasgow Airport and our performance exceeded all expectations. We have now recorded four consecutive years of growth and have succeeded in attracting 1.2 million passengers since 2010.

Another Scottish Airport – Edinburgh Airport topped off another record-breaking year with over 10 million passengers travelling through its terminal in 2014, while Leeds Bradford Airport exceeded 3.3 million passengers for the first time in the airport’s 83 year history.

6.3 million passengers used Bristol Airport last year, surpassing the previous annual record set in 2008. The landmark total included record passenger figures for a single day, set on 14 August when 25,390 arrived or departed during 24 hours.

Growth at the airport was achieved without increasing the number of commercial flights, reflecting the introduction of larger aircraft on a number of established services, including KLM’s four-times daily service to Amsterdam.

A record 10.5 million passengers flew from London Luton Airport (LLA) in 2014, an 8.1% increase on the annual passenger count in 2013.