The number of flights at London’s Gatwick airport grew by more than 10% last month, compared to January 2010.
January 2011 saw some 17,950 air transport movements, up from 16.284 the previous year.
Passenger numbers were also on the rise – up from 1.87 million to 2 million – but Gatwick warned the 11.8% had been “inflated by severe winter conditions” in the first half of January 2010.
Underlying passenger numbers grew 4.8% year-on-year in January, said the airport.
European scheduled flights saw the largest increase – 19.9% – followed by flights to Ireland which grew 13.5%. Flights within the UK and Channel Islands grew 11.7%.
The number of North Atlantic flights, however, dropped by 1% in January, compared to the same month in 2010.
Putting aside a dent in passenger numbers caused by snow, underlying trends at Gatwick showed a growth of 2.6% in December, following two consecutive months of growth at the airport.
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