Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic

Queue of aircraft for take-off at London Heathrow Airport

The tables below contain CAA data from 2006 to 2008, on the busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic, including information on international, domestic and transit counterparts. The data also shows total aircraft movements and cargo volume handled at each airport.

London serves as the largest aviation hub in the world, with five international airports, handling around 123 million passengers in 2008,^[1] more than any other city^{[citation needed]}. London's second busiest airport, Gatwick, is the world's busiest single runway airport.^[2]

The United Kingdom is home to many of Europe's largest and busiest airports as well as the busiest international airport in the world, London Heathrow Airport, which handles over 67 million international passengers annually. This is almost 10 million more than the 59 million handled by its closest competitor (Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport).^[3]

40 largest UK airports by total passenger traffic

2007 / 2008 data

The following is a list of the 40 largest UK airports, which served at least 100,000 passengers annually in 2008, from 2007-2008 CAA statistics.

Source: UK CAA Official Statistics^[4]

20 largest UK airports by total passenger traffic

2008 Data

Source: UK CAA Official Statistics^[4]

2007 Data

Source: UK CAA Official Statistics^[4]

2006 Data

Source: UK CAA Official Statistics^[4]

Future airport expansion

• London Heathrow - Terminal 5 opened on 27 March 2008, increasing the total passenger numbers potentially to over 90 million, possibly making Heathrow the world's busiest airport. However, serious delays and glitches remain. Plans for a third runway could increase aircraft movement dramatically and see over 115 million passengers using Heathrow annually.^{[citation needed]} See also Future expansion and Terminal 6 and Runway 3
• Edinburgh - Over £250 million to be spent in the next ten years. Plans include a new runway and another terminal. Passengers are planed to be over 26 million by 2030. See Edinburgh Airport Future
• London Stansted - Plans to increase Stansted's usage are also underway. See Proposed expansion
• Manchester - Expansion of services and facilities at Manchester Airport estimates a usage by 50 million passengers in 2030, which is twice as many as the airport handles now. Manchester also plans to accommodate the Airbus A380 in the near future.^{[citation needed]} See Manchester Airport Future
• London Luton - Luton's usage has increased by around 900% between 1991 and 2006, however plans for another runway and new terminal were scrapped due to financial reasons.^{[citation needed]} See Development plans and the future
• Birmingham - Birmingham Airport also has plans to expand, with a new terminal due for completion in 2012.^{[citation needed]} See Birmingham International Airport Future
• Leeds Bradford International Airport- In November 2008, Bridgepoint Capital announced a £28 million expansion of the current terminal building at Leeds Bradford International Airport, enabling the airport to handle in excess of 6 million passengers a year. The airport also intends to increase parking, the number of aircraft stands and build a railway link, towards Horsforth enabling a link with Leeds railway station.
• Bournemouth Airport - A £45 million redevelopment by Manchester Airports group was announced in 2006 and began in 2008. The terminal building is to double in size, replace the arrivals terminal, increase the number of stands/gates from 4 to 13 and to add more car parking spaces. Improvements to the local infrastructure, as well as the possibility of the construction of a new hotel are also included in the redevelopment phases.^[5]
• Other - Numerous UK airports are expanding to accommodate the new Airbus A380, and even the smaller airports such as Blackpool International and Plymouth City Airport are becoming larger and more popular due to demand.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport	Approach to London City Airport	Control tower at Edinburgh Airport	Various airlines at Gatwick's South Terminal
Arrivals at Birmingham International Airport	A Qantas Boeing 747 on approach to Heathrow	Glasgow International Airport's Terminal 1	North Terminal building at London Gatwick Airport
British Airways aircraft at Heathrow's Terminal 4	Manchester Airport's Skylink	London Stansted Airport	Cardiff International Airport departures terminal
Leeds Bradford International Airport

See also

• World's busiest airports by traffic movements
• World's busiest airports by passenger traffic
• World's busiest airports by international passenger traffic
• World's busiest airports by cargo traffic
• World's largest airlines
• List of the busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic
• List of the busiest airports in the British Isles
• Transport in the United Kingdom
• Air transport in the United Kingdom

References

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