The table compares the number of passengers in and out of London’s six main airports in 2012. It also shows the changes from 2011, the proportions of total passengers and distances from central London.
Overall, Stansted was the only airport that showed a decline from 2011, whereas all other five airports increased. Meanwhile, Heathrow had the highest number of passengers, Southend had the smallest proportion.
Heathrow airport had 70 million passengers and accounted for the significant majority. This airport had a minor growth from 2011. Likewise, Gatwick airport had around 34.2 million people and increased slightly by approximately 2%. It made up a quarter of the total passengers. Stansted was one of the farthest airport from central London. It was the only airport with decline by just over 3%. It had 17.4 million passengers and accounted for 13% of the total.
However, other three airports had less than 10 million passengers. Luton had approximately 10 million passengers and accounted for 7%. It rose slightly by around 1% from 2011. London City was the closest airport to central London at distance of 11 km. It had only 3 million passengers and accounted for 2%. The airport showed the lowest growth from 2011 by 0.8%. Southend was also one of the farthest airport at 64 km from central London. It had the lowest number of passengers – 1.2 million and made up only 1% of the total passengers. But the airport had the most significant increase by 135%.