Passengers up 3% at Prestwick Airport
22.07.08
Passenger figures at Prestwick Airport continue to climb despite a downturn in the travel industry. A total of 222,940 travellers passed through the Ayrshire hub last month, up 3% on the previous year. The airport had its busiest ever day on Friday June 27, with 68 flights carrying in excess of 10,000 passengers - the first time it had breached this number - on the first day of the Scottish summer holidays.
The airport's Chief Executive, Mark Rodwell, said: ‘This is a strong showing in the current environment. The strength of our key airline customers and our ability to maintain an efficient operating and capital cost base are crucial. The June result shows signs of these strengths.’
‘New services introduced in the last 12 months have provided greater choice to passengers and helped to maintain overall passenger numbers as markets change.’
The major factor in the positive year-on-year variance is a 36% rise in the number of charter passengers using the airport - 19,348 in June against 14,224 in June 2007. Prestwick's main charter operator, Seguro Holidays, has increased capacity this year by using larger aircraft, although it did have problems over the weekend.
A total of 643,269 passengers have used the airport since January, up 1 percent on a year earlier. Rival Glasgow Airport, operated by BAA, reported passengers down 4.9% in June - with its year to date passengers down 4.8%. When the results of the two Glasgow airports are combined, the overall market contracted by around 37,000 passengers (3.4%) in June.
Prestwick Airport handled 1,935 tonnes of freight in June - down 37% on June 2007. Year-to-date freight volume is down 12%. Polar's decision to review their business model resulted in their scheduled freight services ceasing within the UK from early June. This has had a major impact on the Prestwick June result, compounded by the fact that Cargolux and Panalpina volumes were also down on last year.
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