London’s airports handled nearly 114 million passengers in 2001. This was a 2 per cent decrease on the previous year, which was, in part, a result of economic conditions and a fall in tourist numbers. However, this was almost three times as many as the 40 million passengers in 1981.
Several airports more than doubled their passenger numbers in the six years since 1995, largely due to the success of low-cost airlines. Gatwick had a 38 per cent increase. Heathrow had the lowest growth rate, at 10 per cent, but remained the dominant airport handling 53 per cent of passengers.
Bus journeys increased by over 30 per cent in the 20 years to 2001/02, rising to 1.4 billion. The number of Underground trips increased by 76 per cent over the same period but fell by 2 per cent between 2000/01 and 2001/02, to some extent for the same reasons as the fall in airport passengers.
London households spent £6 a week less on motoring than households in the UK as a whole in 2001/02, but almost £10 more on other means of transport, a reflection of the greater use made of public transport. Expenditure on combined fares, such as travelcards, was much higher, £7 a week in London, compared with just £1 per week for the UK.
Source: Civil Aviation Authority; Transport for London; Expenditure and Food Survey, Office for National Statistics
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