02 August 07
Long
haul travel rises by 50% in past decade
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Long haul travel from the UK has
increased by more than a half since 1996, the CAA has revealed.
The authority’s first probe into the
sector for more than a decade reveals a total long-haul market of 47
million passengers, compared with 32 million in 1996.
Just over half of those travelling
long-haul from the UK in 1996 – about 17 million – flew to North
America. That proportion is now less than 50%, although numbers have
risen to about 20 million. In recent years, emerging destinations such
as the Middle East have taken a bigger share of an expanding market.
The growth of Dubai has boosted the
Middle East’s share, so that it now vies with the Far East as the
second-biggest market from the UK.
The CAA report, entitled Connecting the
Continents, concluded that the majority of routes are still operated by
the same carriers as 10 years ago despite fast-growing new entrants such
as Qatar Airways and Etihad.
The report also revealed long-haul
traffic is growing faster at UK regional airports than at London hubs.
In the regions, airlines such as
Continental and Emirates have propelled passenger numbers from 2.7
million in 1996 to 7.2 million in 2006.
A majority of Britons on long-haul
routes still travel from London airports, but the number of scheduled
long-haul flights at Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham has grown from
8,000 in 1996 to 23,000 in 2006.
During the same period, Edinburgh,
Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter and Newcastle saw long-haul routes
emerge.
The past couple of years has also seen
the growth of all-business-class carriers Eos, Maxjet and Silverjet.
Latest figures, for the month of April, reveal that they carried just
over 10,000 passengers, more than double that of April 2006, although
that was before the launch of Silverjet in January.
In contrast, the report found that 60%
of Heathrow’s long-haul passengers used economy or premium economy
tickets.
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