The BA strike in June has apparently caused the number of passengers using BAA airports to fall throughout the last month. According to BAA, a major UK airport operator, numbers of passengers using their airports has fallen by 1.7% compared to the same time period one year ago.
Although BA denies the strikes are completely to blame, BAA have suggested that it would have expected passenger numbers to be the same as last year if it wasnt for the impact of the BA strike.
British Airways staff (mainly cabin crew) were on strike for 9 days in June, and have so far taken 22 days off on strike since the new year started. BA claimed the amount of people it carried on long and short haul flights last month was down 11% compared to June last year, although it still carried over 2.5 million people.
BAA operates six UK airports, having sold Gatwick airport for around £1.5bn in 2009. BAA now operates Glasgow airport, Ediburgh airport, Southampton airport and Aberdeen airport, as well as two major London airports, Stansted and Heathrow.
Its tough to put a finger on exactly how much of an impact the BA strikes have had on BAA airports. Glasgow airport, who do see BA flights, saw a 7% decline in passengers from last year, although Stansted airport, which doesnt have any BA flights, saw a 5.2% reduction from last year.
Maybe its simply the fact that BAA need to do a better job with the airports they run, rather than blaming any drop in business on the British Airways strikes. Take Manchester Airport for example, they focus heavily on customer service, staff happiness and a high level of retail and functional facilities. They have seen an increase in passengers over the last few years, and it is unlikely to be a coincidence that their airport lounges & airport hotels are very highly thought of and rated, as are the staff and the Manchester Airport parking facilities are top of the range.
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