THE chaotic opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5 sent passenger numbers at Scotland's three main airports into a tailspin last month, with traffic on London routes down by 7.45 per cent.
Airport operator BAA said other factors had contributed, but even extra traffic over the early Easter holiday weekend failed to offset the downturn.
Aberdeen was worst hit, with passenger numbers down by 5.8 per cent from March last year, at 262,
200. Growth in Aberdeen's full-year traffic slowed to 4.8 per cent.
Glasgow's passenger total fell by 4.6 per cent to 602,600, with its full-year rate of decline increasing to 2.3 per cent.
Edinburgh, Scotland's largest and most buoyant airport, saw its monthly growth slow to 1 per cent, with a total of 720,000 passengers in March, and annual growth of 5.3 per cent.
Several dozen British Airways flights between the three Scottish airports and Heathrow were cancelled because of baggage problems at Terminal 5, which opened five days before the end of March.
BAA, which also runs Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, said strong winds had forced the cancellation of flights at the London airports earlier in the month. It said Aberdeen's figures had also been hit by the collapse of City Star Airlines, which flew to Norway, and fewer North Sea helicopter flights.
Richard Havers, a former senior airline executive, said the outlook looked poor for April, since Easter had now passed and Terminal 5's problems were only just being resolved.
BA said it operated a full flight schedule at Terminal 5 for the first time on Tuesday – nearly two weeks after its opened.
Havers said: "If last month's figures are as weak as they look, it is not looking terribly encouraging for this month."
Havers also cast doubt on the viability of the 44 new routes being launched from BAA's Scottish airports this year. He said: "The underlying fact is the market is flat, which is worrying for this extra capacity.
"It's great to have these extra services, but they'll have to find passengers to fill them."
MPs announced yesterday they would be taking evidence from BA and BAA chiefs next month as part of an inquiry into the Terminal 5 opening fiasco by the Commons transport committee.
Donald Morrison, a spokesman for BAA Scotland, said: "With bad weather and baggage difficulties at Heathrow leading to a number of cancellations to and from Scotland, the drop in passenger numbers was not unexpected.
"However, overall passenger numbers continue to rise and international and long-haul traffic remains particularly buoyant. Despite rising fuel prices, and the effects of the credit crunch, the market continues to grow, with dozens of new routes set to take off this year."
The full article contains 463 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
