Downturn cuts Scots airport delays

Published on Wednesday 15 April 2009 22:01

AIR travel – for those who can still afford it – is becoming significantly less frustrating because of a marked cut in delays fuelled by the economic squeeze, the latest figures show.

Passengers at Scotland's two largest airports last autumn suffered the shortest delays for at least five years, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.

BAA Scotland, which runs Edinburgh and Glasgow airports, said airlines redoubling their efforts to cut costs, and fewer flights reducing congestion, were part of the reason for the improved figures.

Average flight delays at Edinburgh, Scotland's busiest airport, were reduced by more than a quarter, from 14 to ten minutes between October and December compared with the same period in 2007.

A total of 83 per cent of flights operated within 15 minutes of schedule – classed as on time in the airline industry – 8 per cent better than a year ago.

In the best performance for the two airports since at least 2004, passengers at Glasgow were kept waiting an average of 11 minutes, which was three minutes less than before.

Punctuality was up from 77 per cent to 82 per cent.

David Lister, of BAA Scotland, said: "This is a great performance which is influenced by our teams and our airline partners' teams. We will endeavour to do everything we can to maintain this performance."

A BAA Scotland spokesman said airlines, which had already cut flights because of declining demand during the downturn, were now desperate to further reduce costs by minimising delays.

He said airlines were charged for the time their aircraft spent at airports, giving them an incentive to minimise time on the ground.

"Delays cost airlines money, and in this climate they can ill afford big delays. The longer an aircraft is on the ground, the more it costs the airline – just like car parking. Delays can also be costly if it results in the crew being 'out of hours' (reaching the end of their permitted maximum working time]," he said.

The official passenger watchdog was delighted at the improvement after years of extra stress heaped on passengers by additional security measures following terrorist scares.

Simon Evans, the chief executive of the Air Transport Users' Council, said: "We very much welcome that performance has been improved for passengers and punctuality has shown a dramatic increase. We very much hope this is maintained in the future."

EasyJet, one of the main airlines at the two airports, said it was making "ongoing efforts" to improve its performance.

BAA yesterday reported that passenger numbers continued to drop last month compared with a year ago, although it said 2 to 3 per cent of the reduction could be attributed to Easter being later this year.

Glasgow airport again saw the largest fall, by 13 per cent, with Aberdeen down by 8 per cent and Edinburgh by 3.6 per cent.

A spokesman for BAA Scotland said: "The recession is continuing to impact on passenger demand across our Scottish airports, with both domestic and international traffic affected.

"With many airlines reducing capacity to keep costs down, this has also had an impact on passenger traffic. In March alone, there were almost 80,000 fewer seats on sale compared to the same point last year."

Slump's silver lining: Air travel is better

AIR travel – for those who can still afford it – is becoming significantly less frustrating because of a marked cut in delays fuelled by the economic squeeze, the latest figures show.

Passengers at Scotland's two largest airports last autumn suffered the shortest delays for at least five years, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.

BAA Scotland, which runs Edinburgh and Glasgow airports, said airlines redoubling their efforts to cut costs, and fewer flights reducing congestion, were part of the reason for the improved figures.

Average flight delays at Edinburgh, Scotland's busiest airport, were reduced by more than a quarter, from 14 to ten minutes between October and December compared with the same period in 2007.

A total of 83 per cent of flights operated within 15 minutes of schedule – classed as on time in the airline industry – 8 per cent better than a year ago.

In the best performance for the two airports since at least 2004, passengers at Glasgow were kept waiting an average of 11 minutes, which was three minutes less than before.

Punctuality was up from 77 per cent to 82 per cent.

David Lister, of BAA Scotland, said: "This is a great performance which is influenced by our teams and our airline partners' teams. We will endeavour to do everything we can to maintain this performance."

A BAA Scotland spokesman said airlines, which had already cut flights because of declining demand during the downturn, were now desperate to further reduce costs by minimising delays.

He said airlines were charged for the time their aircraft spent at airports, giving them an incentive to minimise time on the ground.

"Delays cost airlines money, and in this climate they can ill afford big delays. The longer an aircraft is on the ground, the more it costs the airline – just like car parking. Delays can also be costly if it results in the crew being 'out of hours' (reaching the end of their permitted maximum working time]," he said.

The official passenger watchdog was delighted at the improvement after years of extra stress heaped on passengers by additional security measures following terrorist scares.

Simon Evans, the chief executive of the Air Transport Users' Council, said: "We very much welcome that performance has been improved for passengers and punctuality has shown a dramatic increase. We very much hope this is maintained in the future."

EasyJet, one of the main airlines at the two airports, said it was making "ongoing efforts" to improve its performance.

BAA yesterday reported that passenger numbers continued to drop last month compared with a year ago, although it said 2 to 3 per cent of the reduction could be attributed to Easter being later this year.

Glasgow airport again saw the largest fall, by 13 per cent, with Aberdeen down by 8 per cent and Edinburgh by 3.6 per cent.

A spokesman for BAA Scotland said: "The recession is continuing to impact on passenger demand across our Scottish airports, with both domestic and international traffic affected.

"With many airlines reducing capacity to keep costs down, this has also had an impact on passenger traffic. In March alone, there were almost 80,000 fewer seats on sale compared to the same point last year."