London - Gatwick and Heathrow ramped up their battle to be the choice for the south-east's next runway on Monday, with both airports welcoming record numbers of passengers during March.
The airports benefited from an early Easter rush to the sun, but Gatwick went further in making its case for a second runway by saying it expects to serve 40 million passengers next year - a decade earlier than forecast by government transport officials.
Both airports used the strong March performance as evidence of their superior claim to be the site of the south-east's first new runway for 60 years. But the rivals will have to wait until after the general election at the earliest before a verdict is given by Sir Howard Davies's independent Airports Commission.
Gatwick's March passengers were up 9.2 percent to 2.96 million, compared with the same month in 2014, while a record 5.95 million passengers used Heathrow, up 3.4 percent on March 2014.
Long-haul traffic from Gatwick grew by 7.4 percent. Flights to Europe rose 12.1 percent compared with last year, with Barcelona the biggest growth destination.
Stewart Wingate, chief executive of Gatwick, said: “The figures speak for themselves - we need to build a second runway in order to realise our potential and to maximise the nation's connectivity to the rest of the world.”
Meanwhile, Heathrow continues to argue for its advantage as a global hub airport that connects the UK regions with destinations around the world.
Far-flung, emerging markets attracted a surge in passengers, with those travelling to Mexico up by more than a quarter (26.5 percent). Those flying to China rose by 20.2 per cent and Middle East and Asia passengers were up 7.6 percent.
Transfer passengers through Heathrow increased by 4.3 percent year on year, while cargo volumes showed growth of 2.9 percent overall. John Holland-Kaye, the airport's chief executive, urged Sir Howard's commission to come up with an answer as soon as possible after the election.
In 2014, 73.4 million passengers made their way through Heathrow's gates, as more people travelled to Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.
The total number of passengers who used the airport was 1.4 percent up on 2013, and was bolstered by an increase in long-haul flights.
The Independent