British airports operator BAA says growing confidence among airlines and a solid economy will underpin strong passenger traffic after London's busy Heathrow airport boosted the company's third-quarter profit.
Higher landing charges and retail income at Heathrow helped offset flat operating profit at its two other London airports, with operating costs rising at Stansted to support its rapid passenger growth and at Gatwick because of a bigger security bill.
Third-quarter operating profit for the three months to the end of December jumped 8% to £149m on 4.2% higher sales of £499m. Nine-month sales rose by 3.5% to £1.54 billion.
Finance director Margaret Ewing said there had been no new British government directives for airport security procedures, after BAA hired about an extra 1,500 guards over the past two years.
