In the 11 months to February 28, BAA?s airports handled a total of 145.1m passengers, up 3.1% on the prior year, including 133.2m for the seven UK airports. The airports company said that allowing for

the later Easter holiday this year, the current trend indicates growth for the UK airports of just over 2% for the full year.
The ?1.255bn ($2.19bn) acquisition of Budapest Airport was completed on December 22 2005 and BAA says that the integration of the airport into the group is now ‘well underway’ with the business?s performance over the first few months providing increased confidence that the business plan that BAA outlined at the time of the acquisition will be delivered.
At the same time, BAA says that the UK airports? retail business has continued to perform strongly and is expected to deliver growth in net retail income per passenger of around 2% for the full year.
The company said: ‘In line with our expectations, operating costs, driven by higher staff costs, energy prices and business rates, are expected to rise by apprimately 8% for the year, excluding operating costs relating to Budapest Airport. Heathrow Terminal 5, now three quarters complete, is on budget and on schedule to open on 30 March 2008.’
Mike Clasper, Ceo, commented: ?The Group is on track to deliver trading performance for the year in line with our expectations, a good result given the impact of a softer UK economy and increased security requirements. The momentum we are seeing right across the business, particularly with the integration of Budapest Airport, progress on Terminal 5 and the implementation of the Delivering Excellence programme, adds to our confidence that as we move forward we will deliver enhanced value for shareholders.?
In addition, the company said: ‘In November, we announced the Delivering Excellence programme which is designed to contribute ?45m ($78.7m) per annum of sustained benefits from 2008/09, incurring ?90m ($157.6m) of exceptional operating costs, of which ?16m ($28m) was recognised in 2004/05.’
Passenger traffic in 2006/07 at BAA's three price-regulated airports is currently forecast by BAA to be 126.7m passengers, with 69.6m expected at Heathrow; 34.1m at Gatwick; and 23.0m at Stansted. In 2007/08 it expects traffic to stand at 130.5m, with 71.5m at Heathrow; 35.3m at Gatwick; and 23.8m at Stansted.