Stansted: Passenger Numbers Down

Passenger numbers at Stansted declined last year according to airport operator BAA.

At the Essex terminal, departure punctuality improved to 12% of flights delayed by more than 15 minutes, compared to 22% the previous year. However, passenger numbers at Stansted declined in 2011 by 2.8% to 18 million passengers as airlines - such as Ryanair - pulled out and redeployed to other markets.

The decline at Stansted was driven by domestic flights, due to the end of services to Belfast and Newcastle.

The airline operator, part owned by Spain's Ferrovial, said it was still considering whether to fight a requirement to sell Stansted, after it lost an appeal against the decision earlier this month.

Heathrow and Stansted saw combined revenues increase 10% to £2.3 billion, while underlying earnings increased 17% to £1.1 billion. BAA's net debt swelled by 5% to £10.4 billion in the period.