Number of Heathrow passengers is soaring

Heathrow had yet another record month in July and has yet to see any signs of disruption to passenger numbers caused by the riots, owner BAA said today.

"August is traditionally more of a holidaymaker month," said director of strategy Andrew Macmillan. "Those are people who have booked well ahead and are less likely to cancel. We won't pick up anything on the effects of the riots for a matter of weeks, if not months."

Heathrow handled 6.9 million passengers last month - an increase of 2.5% on a year ago. Its busiest day ever was Sunday July 31 as the great holiday getaway started.

The major driver of the increase was North American flights, which rose 5.3%, other long haul up 3.2%, and scheduled European flights up by 3.1%. The fastest growth came on Brazil routes where passenger numbers were 80% higher than a year ago as airlines added extra flight and capacity to handle the growing demand from business travellers.

Domestic flights were down 13.3% on a year ago as airlines slashed their capacity by 16% to reflect falling demand.

Stansted, which BAA was last month ordered by the Competition Commission to sell off, saw a 7.2% drop in passengers to 1.9 million last month. That reflects a steady decline this year as consumer confidence has dropped and the leading leisure airlines have lost custom.

Macmillan said that BAA "was still considering our options" over whether to take the Competition Commission to a judicial review in a last-ditch attempt to thwart the sale.