BAA, the British-based International airports group, has reported a 5.2% increase in operating profit, the bulk of which came from its retail operations. Passenger numbers at its seven UK airports grew by an overall 4.7% to 127.7m. Strongest passenger demand was in the domestic and European scheduled markets, with respective growth of 11.3% and 5.6%, the price war between the full-service and low-cost scheduled airlines fuelling the increase. North Atlantic and other long haul traffic was marginally higher at 0.9%and 0.6% respectively. Stansted was the star performer in terms of airports, handling 16.7m passengers, a gain of nearly 19%. The growth of low-cost airlines played a major part in its expansion. The UK's busiest airport, Heathrow, saw passenger numbers rise by 4.3%. The company said that its 582m profit primarily reflected a 6.5% lift in net retail income and only a 2% growth in UK airport operations revenue. http://www.baa.co.uk