Numbers Down At Southampton Airport

The number of passengers using the UK's main airports dipped last month as people stayed at home to watch the Olympics.

The five UK airports run by BAA, which include Heathrow, handled 9.6 million passengers in July 2012 - a 4.1% decline on the July 2011 figure. 

Numbers at Heathrow fell 4.4% to just under 6.57 million, while Stansted was down 5.3%, Southampton fell 9.5% and Glasgow dropped 0.5%. 

The only BAA airport to see an increase last month was Aberdeen, where numbers were up 4.4%. 

The Olympic effect was most marked on European scheduled flight passenger numbers which fell 6.6% at the five BAA airports last month. 

Gatwick's chief financial officer Nick Dunn said the slight drop was "in line with industry expectations where fewer Britons were predicted to travel abroad in favour of staying at home to soak up the Games."