Over the last few months, AiQ has interpreted the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) monthly statistics on ATMs, Passenger, and Cargo to provide airports with a clear vision of airport operational activity in the UK. This helps airports to flexibly plan their operations to the changeable demand and to understand the bigger picture over the months. The data used in our below graphs is based on 51 UK airports.
Air Traffic Movements (ATMS) October 2020
The total air traffic movement (ATM) graph above shows a 19% increase in activity since September to a total of 55,477 ATMs in October. This is encouraging to see levels returning to that in July after the decline in September however there is a slight increase in cancelled movements. This may be due to reduced passenger demand as seen in the below graphs.
UK Airport Passenger Traffic October 2020
The total UK passenger traffic in October shows a slight decrease of 163,829 passengers since September to a total of 3,615.791 in October. Whilst total passengers decreased, there was a slight increase in domestic passengers. A possible explanation could be passengers travelling prior to the November England lockdown when non-essential travel was banned.
UK Airport Cargo Traffic October 2020
Cargo traffic appears to be performing better than the passenger business in October, showing a 5% increase since September. Extra demand for PPE to cope with rising COVID-19 cases in addition to cargo for the Christmas period could have contributed to this stronger demand for cargo traffic.
Airports Survival with Operational Efficiency Planning
Tracking the above key statistics provides airports with a clear picture month to month on the impact of the changeable COVID-19 pandemic situation on flight activity. There are optimistic signs with last month’s announcements, but the situation remains uncertain for airports. It is ever more important that airports look for operational efficiency opportunities to prevent further squeeze of profits and for the survival of their airport.
As operational airport experts and experienced business management consultants, AiQ has recently been advising UK airports on applying lean processes, operational efficiency savings along with other simple and practical ways to save money during this challenging time. AiQ Consulting was born from a previous successful management consultancy business and is well placed to help airports through survival from using our 30 years of multisector management consultancy experience. Read our ‘Above Wing’ efficiency savings suggestions and our recently published ‘Below Wing’ efficiency savings ideas to help guide your airport through this survival phrase.
Are you an airport owner, operator, service professional or product supplier who is interested in seeing the above data for your airport? Contact us and we can easily share your airport specific data in a visual graph for your own management planning purposes.