Airports operator BAA reported its busiest August on record yesterday after 14.2 million passengers used its seven sites during the month.

The 3.7 per cent year-on-year improvement came despite a string of problems for British Airways as the airline faced the threat of industrial action and then had to cancel flights because of operational difficulties.

BAA said passenger growth was seen across all airports and most markets, with European scheduled traffic up by 8.3 per cent and North Atlantic routes 4.5 per cent busier.

Heathrow dealt with two per cent more people than a year earlier at 6.3 million, while the number of passengers using Gatwick increased by 2.1 per cent to 3.7 million.

Elsewhere, Stansted, in Essex, continued its expansion with a 9.4 per cent rise to 2.2 million and the Scottish sites of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen achieved combined growth of 6.1 per cent, to 1.9 million passengers. The development of low-cost services saw Southampton Airport increase numbers by 8.4 per cent to 152,000 in the month.

Overall, 138.1 million passengers used BAA sites in the 12 months to August as confidence continued to return with demand for long-haul routes now back at pre-September 11 levels.

As well as a 4.5 per cent rise in North Atlantic traffic, BAA said other long-haul business had been nine per cent busier at 1.9 million last month.