July figures show rate of decline is slowing
JULY FLIGHTS SHOW RATE OF DECLINE IN SINGLE FIGURES
The rate of decrease for the reduction in flights in UK controlled airspace dropped to single figures for July, according to statistics published today.
NATS, the UK’s leading provider of air traffic services, showed a fall of 8.9 per cent compared to the same month last year with 210,844 flights this month against 231,537 in July 2008. Results for April, May and June recorded double digit decreases of 11%.
However, July is traditionally the busiest month for air traffic because of the demand for holiday flights, so this may prove to be a temporary boost to numbers.
All centres and markets posted a reduction in traffic with the only exceptions being growth of 0.5 per cent at Aberdeen Airport and a rise of 1.9 per cent in arrivals and departures from Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
And flights to Turkey recorded a rise of 12.6 per cent on last year, believed to be a result of new routes to service tourist demand to a destination outside the euro zone.
| July
2009 |
July
2008 |
% gr | 2009 to date | 2008 to date | % gr | |
| UK FLIGHTS | ||||||
| 210,844 | 231,537 | -8.9% | 1,289,334 | 1,443,414 | -10.7% | |
| CENTRES | ||||||
| London Area Control Centre (Swanwick) | 174,283 | 192,157 | -9.3% | 1,057,508 | 1,181,476 | -10.5% |
| London Terminal Control Centre (Swanwick) | 118,292 | 128,736 | -8.1% | 736,193 | 817,241 | -9.9% |
| Manchester Area Control Centre | 46,483 | 53,175 | -12.6% | 287,764 | 337,758 | -14.8% |
| Scottish Area Control Centre | 53,901 | 59,850 | -9.9% | 327,125 | 376,761 | -13.2% |
| Oceanic Area Control Centre (Shanwick) | 37,884 | 40,865 | -7.3% | 229,664 | 249,241 | -7.9% |
| MARKET | ||||||
| Transatlantic Arrivals/Departures | 11,637 | 13,410 | -13.2% | 72,706 | 83,584 | -13.0% |
| Transatlantic Overflights | 18,140 | 19,257 | -5.8% | 109,138 | 118,780 | -8.1% |
| Other Arrivals/Departures | 130,899 | 142,738 | -8.3% | 785,657 | 875,165 | -10.2% |
| Other Overflights | 10,297 | 12,444 | -17.3% | 64,438 | 75,948 | -15.2% |
| Domestic | 39,541 | 43,247 | -8.6% | 254,586 | 287,495 | -11.4% |
Notes to Editors:
· NATS handled more than 2.4 million flights in 2008, covering the UK and eastern North Atlantic and carried more than 230 million passengers safely through some of the busiest and most complex airspace in the world.
· NATS provides ‘en route’ air traffic control and management from the London Control Centre at Swanwick, Hampshire, Scottish and Oceanic Area Control Centre at Prestwick, Ayrshire and the Manchester Area Control Centre located at Manchester Airport.
· NATS also provides air traffic control services at 15 of the nation’s major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, together with air traffic services at Gibraltar Airport.