3.25 Since the 1950s air travel has been the fastest growing mode of transport. However, the rate of growth of passenger numbers has slowed since 2005 and, after reaching a peak in 2007, traffic has fallen in each of the last three years. This is largely due to the global economic downturn and, more recently, volcanic ash and severe winter weather.
3.26 UK airport connectivity – broadly defined as a combination of the range of destinations served with the frequency of flights to those destinations - has improved markedly over the past few decades. In 2010, UK airports served around 370 international destinations with at least a weekly direct passenger service. Although the total number of flights at UK airports has fallen since 2005, the number of international destinations with at least a weekly service from the UK has increased. In terms of London's connectivity, the total number of international destinations with at least a daily service from one of the five London airports has fallen slightly since 2005 but the number of long haul destinations with at least a daily service has increased.
3.27 Heathrow, the UK's main hub airport, serves fewer total destinations than its three main EU competitors (Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and Amsterdam Schiphol) and serves fewer long haul destinations than Paris and Frankfurt in total. However, in terms of destinations with at least a daily service, it serves more long haul destinations than any other EU hub. Heathrow tends to offer higher frequency on its routes compared to the other EU hubs. As aircraft at Heathrow have more seats, on average, than at the other three hubs, Heathrow also handles more passengers.
3.28 Punctuality, based on delays at ten major UK airports (the five London airports, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh), has worsened since 2005, although punctuality is volatile and was affected, for example, by bad weather in 2010. Data for Europe as a whole suggest that delays at UK airports are higher than the European average.
3.29 The two busiest UK airports are Heathrow and Gatwick. Heathrow is operating at near full capacity by both measures of capacity (runway utilisation and terminal passengers capacity). Gatwick is operating at near full capacity in terms of runway utilisation but has some spare terminal capacity. This should allow passenger throughput at Gatwick to rise by about 20 per cent by 2020 through more efficient use of its existing infrastructure. While, over 80 per cent of London airports' runway capacity was utilised in 2010, other UK airports only used 30 per cent of their runway capacity, suggesting the latter could accommodate a higher proportion of the future demand for air travel.