Re: Passenger Figures
Passenger figures down at City Airport
The first sign the recession has hit London City Airport came this week.
Despite figures showing the Royal Docks airport had a record 2008, its chief executive Richard Gooding admitted this year had been slower, with January and February both down 10 per cent on passengers.
Mr Gooding said: "We're going through a rocky patch and that's for us, our customers and those who use us.
"Last year was our most successful with 3.3million using the airport but there has been a bit of a decrease.
"The first half of 2008 was 20 per cent up, while the second half was flat. We've seen that continue. Perhaps we are at the bottom of the curve, we don't know."
Mr Gooding also blamed the snow in February as well as a slight decrease in business passengers for the overall reduction in the last few months.
He said: "It was minus in October and November but plus in December. The weather was not too bad in December but we got it all in February. That affected all airports.
"Leisure tends to do well here because of the large amount of skiing and even though that's mainly financial services workers it seems to have held up. However, business travel is down a bit."
Despite the results, the chief executive said he felt positive about the long term health of the airport, which this week was voted second most popular in the UK in Which? Holiday magazine.
"I've been through six recessions and they have all shared one characteristic - that they have ended," he said. "I can safely predict this one will end too.
"We have to keep our service level up and take a long term view.
"We've just finished off the refurbishment of the departure lounge. We've continued to invest through the downturn we've seen."
He added another positive sign was British Airways' recent investments.
The airline announced flights to New York will take off from City in October, while its subsidiary, BA CityFlyer, is launching a new fleet of Embraer aircraft this year.
Mr Gooding was speaking at an event to mark the testing of the Embraer aircraft at City Airport on Tuesday.
The Embraer 190, which features state-of-the-art fly-by wire technology, was performing a series of steep approach landings which will lead to certification for flights in October.
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