Ryanair help bolster UK passenger figures

Irish airline Ryanair has played a major part in increased passenger figures for Britain’s biggest airports, figures revealed today.

Irish airline Ryanair has played a major part in new increased passenger figures for Britain’s biggest airports.

The British Aviation Authority’s latest figures show passengers are returning, with budget airlines - like Ryanair - stimulating most of the growth.

The airline operator's March figures show that its seven UK airports handled 10.1 million passengers.

In March, Heathrow reported its first monthly increase - of 2.2% - since February last year.

The biggest increases came from smaller airports used by the budget operators, with Stansted showing an increase of 17.2% for the month.

Stansted is used by Ryanair for flights to the UK from several Irish airports.