UK air passenger figures continue to sore, the CAA reporting an 8% increase from 2003 to 2004 to 217m. For the five major London airports numbers rose 7% to 129m, more than the two Paris airports and Frankfurt combined. Traffic at the UK's regional airports increased 9% last year to 88m. Of the ten largest regional airports, the fastest growing was Newcastle ” up 21% to 4.72m. Bristol enjoyed a 19% increase to 4.64m and Leeds Bradford handled 2.36m passengers ” 17% more than in 2003. The charter airline business continues to decline, now only 15% of the total but the airlines themselves are not actually suffering, most now adding budget offsprings.
http://www.caa.co.uk