The table provides a comparative overview of passenger throughput at three principal British airports over a six-year span, from 1998 to 2003. Overall, Gatwick and Stansted airports witnessed consistent growth in passenger numbers, while Heathrow experienced a more volatile pattern.
Initially, Heathrow demonstrated substantial expansion, climbing from 27.2 million passengers in 1998 to a peak of 48.2 million in 2000. This ascendancy was followed by a marked decline to 33.2 million by 2002, before a subsequent recovery to 45.6 million in the concluding year. This fluctuating trajectory contrasts sharply with the performance of the other two airports.
Conversely, Gatwick Airport exhibited a robust and sustained increase in passenger volume throughout the period, culminating in a peak of 69.3 million travelers in 2003, the highest figure recorded across all three airports. Stansted, starting from a lower base of 17.3 million, registered an impressive surge of 26 million passengers between 1998 and 2001. Following this rapid expansion, passenger numbers at Stansted plateaued at approximately 43.3 million for the remainder of the timeframe, indicating a stabilisation of growth.