BAA’s six airports handled 9.1m passengers last month, with Heathrow (5.8m) and Edinburgh (776,000) both seeing their busiest-ever months of April. Heathrow also saw its highest ever April cargo tonnage (122,000).

The group’s six airports saw a significant increase in traffic over last April, although BAA said that the underlying trend is obscured by the severe disruption in air travel in April 2010 caused by the volcanic ash cloud, by the Easter holidays falling entirely in April this year and by the extra bank holiday for the Royal Wedding. 

DISTORTED TRAFFIC PICTURE
It says that a more reliable interpretation of the year to date will be possible after the end of May when the full effects of the later holiday can be better assessed.

In addition to welcoming more passengers than in any previous April, Heathrow’s punctuality was at its highest ever, equalling the record previously set in October 2009. 

Over the Easter holiday season, Heathrow brought in more multilingual customer service agents; set up dedicated family security lanes; opened a play area and established a pre-ordering service for baby milk and food to help families have smoother journeys.

Colin Matthews, Ceo of BAA, said: “I am delighted that more passengers departed on time from Heathrow than ever before. These figures reflect the results of our £1bn ($1.6bn) annual investment and the commitment of 77,000 staff from 320 companies who work at the airport to improve the experience of our passengers.”