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TAG Farnborough Airport wants permission increase its permitted capacity to 50,000 aircraft movements a year, despite suffering a 10% drop in demand last year
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Air traffic at Farnborough Airport down 10%

By Jack Sommers
March 04, 2010

THE NUMBER of planes using Farnborough Airport went down last year, according to new figures.

Airport owners TAG are currently seeking permission for 50,000 flights a year, up from the current 28,000 limit despite the smaller numbers.

There were 22,779 flights from the airport in 2009 compared with 25,504 in 2008 - a fall of more than 10%.

More weekend flights

However, the proportion of larger, noisier Boeing 737-size jets increased, and the numbers of flights at weekends increased dramatically.

The number of weekend flights grew to 4,958 last year, up from 3,972 the year before. This is just short of the 5,000 limit imposed as part of TAG's revised planning permission.

The figures were presented by TAG at a meeting of the Farnborough Aerodrome Consultative Committee on Thursday afternoon. The quarterly meeting, which is meant to be a forum between airport users and those who live around it, is the last scheduled meeting before the public inquiry into the airport expansion in May.

For a full report of the meeting, see the News & Mail, out on Friday March 12.

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