UK air passenger numbers were down in March due to cabin crew strike action.

British Airways’ (BA) cabin crew strike action resulted in an overall decrease of 200,000 passengers at BAA’s UK airports – 180,000 passengers of which were at Heathrow, which recorded a 0.5% increase in March rather than the anticipated 3.8%.

Nearly all UK airports experienced a drop in the number of passengers. Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen were all affected by the strike action, and reported drops of 9.6%, 3.3%, and 4.4% respectively.

Stansted, although unaffected by the industrial action, experienced a 4.2% decline. Southampton was BAA’s only UK airport that recorded growth, with passenger numbers up 5.3%.

Colin Matthews, BAA’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “There is no doubt that the market remains difficult, compounded by industrial action last month. Despite the industrial action, Heathrow continued to demonstrate the resilience which comes from its role as the UK’s only hub airport.”

While domestic travel fell 6.8% because of the industrial action, long-haul travel fared much better. Traffic rose by 0.5% overall, with travel from Heathrow to China up 10.9% and to the Middle East up 7.2%.

BA reported its March traffic down 11.4% compared with the previous year, and passenger capacity down 13.6% – all attributed to the strikes, as over the seven days of industrial action the airline operated only 79% of its longhaul flights and 58% of its shorthaul.

Overall, BA revealed that March’s strike action cost the company £40-45 million.