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Figures reveal air passenger numbers fall
New figures published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have revealed that the number of passengers travelling through UK airports fell last year for the first time since 1991.
It is only the fourth time since the end of the Second World War that annual passenger numbers have decreased, with a 1.9 per cent decline in the number people travelling by air in 2008 compared with the previous year. Stansted Airport was one of the hardest hit by the decreasing number of passengers, with 1.4 million fewer people travelling through the airport, although Luton and Birmingham airports both witnessed increases.
Harry Bush, CAA group director of economic regulation, said: "The fall in passenger numbers is to be expected in light of the worsening economic situation during 2008. The combination of business failures, such as those of XL Leisure Group and Zoom Airlines, together with a fluctuating oil price and the economic downturn has had a marked effect. "The early indications are that the largest falls seen in the last quarter of 2008 are continuing into the new year, with the prospect of declining traffic in 2009 overall, which, if it occurs, will be the first time since World War Two that UK passenger numbers have fallen for two consecutive years."
Image: Britain on View
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