BAA reaches record numbers at Heathrow

British airport group BAA reported record number of passengers using its Heathrow airport last year, with company losses narrowing.

Passenger numbers leapt 5% to a record high of 69.4m in 2011, while losses slimmed down from £316.6m to £255.8m for the twelve months ended December 31st.

Elsewhere passenger numbers at Stansted dropped by 2.2% to 18m. However, the total number of passengers at its airports grew by 3.7% to 87.4m.

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The firm, which is 49.9% owned by Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial, said that growth at Heathrow was "particularly strong".

"Of Heathrow's major markets, European traffic showed the most significant year-on-year growth, increasing 7.6% to 28.5m passengers."

Heathrow used 99.2% of its permitted annual arrivals and departures in 2011, a record high. However, this meant that the firm has been unable to meet demand for news routes to growing markets such as Asia.

NR