BAA passenger numbers hit by ash cloud and BA strike

UK airport operator BAA has said the number of passengers using its airports fell in May because of continued disruption from the volcanic ash cloud and the British Airways strike.

Passenger numbers in BAA's airports fell 4.5% compared with May 2009.

BAA said that without the impact of the ash and the strike it would have expected traffic to increase by 0.4%.

BAA operates six airports in the UK - Heathrow, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton.

The airport operator - which is majority-owned by Spanish firm Ferrovial - sold Gatwick for £1.5bn last year.

British Airways cabin crew walked out for a total of six days during May as part of a long-running industrial dispute.

The airline has said that the number of passengers it carried last month fell by 14.2% from a year ago, partly due to the strikes.