During Quarter 2 of 2022, traffic growth was very strong and by the end of June UK traffic was between 85 and 90% of 2019 levels. In April the UK average daily traffic was 5,970 flights and this increased by over 1,000 per day to 7,050 for June.
Weather conditions through Q2 have generally been settled with few only days where weather conditions would have had a significant impact on the 3Di scores. There have been no prolonged periods of severe CB activity associated with thunderstorms which would require flights to tactically re-route to avoid the weather conditions.
The relatively large amount of ATFM delay across the European network appears to have had a moderating effect on the environmental performance. A significant number of flights running later than scheduled results in some parts of the UK network being able to deliver improved environmental performance. Additionally, airborne holding particularly for Heathrow but also for other UK airports has been kept well below 2019 levels and this will have made a very significant contribution to improved scores.
Monthly 3Di scores for April, May and June were 25.6, 25.8 and 25.8, respectively. These scores which stayed very steady across the three months are very promising against the backdrop of traffic increasing all the way through the period. At the end of Quarter 2, the Year to Date (YTD) figure for 3Di stands at 24.6, which is 2.7 points better than the regulatory target of 27.3.