BAA Passengers Below Forecast Due To Security

BAA Passengers Below Forecast Due To Security: British airport operator BAA said the number of passengers using its UK airports was 5 percent below the 15 million expected in August due to tighter security following a suspected plot to blow up airliners.

The Spanish-owned company added that it spent GBP13 million (USD$24 million) on extra security measures -- some of them one-offs -- after British police foiled the plan to blow up aircraft flying between Britain and the United States.

Tightened security forced flight cancellations and snarled Britain's busiest airports, prompting some carriers to consider seeking damages from BAA or the government.

BAA, bought by Ferrovial earlier this year, said UK passenger traffic rose by 0.3 percent to 14.3 million people over the month compared with 12 months earlier. Fewer than 2 percent of 116,000 flights were cancelled at its British airports, it said.

BAA, which runs London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, delisted in London on August 15 after construction and services conglomerate Ferrovial successfully bid GBP10.1 billion (USD$19 billion) for the company.