Bad weather blamed as air passengers stay at home

The number of passengers handled at BAA's six UK airports last month totalled 7.2 million – a fall of 3.1 per cent compared with January 2009.

The decline was most marked in Scotland where numbers at Aberdeen airport fell 13.6 per cent, with Glasgow down 12.2 per cent and Edinburgh declining by 7.4 per cent.

There was a 9.7 per cent fall at Southampton, while Stansted was down 5.6 per cent and Heathrow handled 0.5 per cent fewer passengers.

BAA said that without the weather disruption, numbers at Heathrow last month would have grown by an estimated 2.5 per cent, while the overall decline at the six airports would have been just 0.3 per cent.

Group chief executive Colin Matthews added: "There is no doubt that the market remains a difficult one, and certainly the snow didn't help, but there are encouraging signs of growth."

The Competition Commission is continuing its fight to force BAA to sell some of its airports, challenging a tribunal judgment giving BAA the right to appeal.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal last year ruled that the CC's decision that Ferrovial-owned BAA should dispose of London Stansted and Edinburgh or Glasgow airports within two years had been influenced by bias.

BAA sold Gatwick for 1.5 billion in October.