British airports firm weighed down by £9.6bn debt mountain

British airport operator BAA’s £9.6bn (€10.8bn) debt mountain weighed it down in the first three months of 2009 despite a boost from higher airport fees, the firm said today.

BAA saw a 10% fall in passengers at its London airports to 24.8 million in the first quarter – nearly three million fewer than a year earlier – due to the impact of recession and the worst snowfall for 18 years.