BAA cuts first half loss at London airports to £50.9m

UK airports operator BAA has reported a pre-tax loss of £50.9 million ($79.8 million) for its two London airports in the first half of 2012 - an improvement on last year's loss of £249 million.

For the six months to 30 June, the operator of London Heathrow airport and London Stansted airport saw revenues increased 8.4% to £1.16 billion, while adjusted EBITDA was up 8.8% to £555 million.

Passenger numbers at Heathrow were up 2.2% year-on-year to a record high of 33.6 million, while combined Heathrow and Stansted passenger numbers rose by 0.8% to 41.8 million.

Chief executive Colin Matthews says: "BAA is reporting a strong operational and financial performance for the first half of 2012. Higher passenger numbers and increased yields are driving revenue growth."

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news