2001 saw 10 years of consistent growth brought to a halt by the terrible events of September 11

Brian Summers, Managing Director of Birmingham International Airport

Transatlantic routes were particularly hard-hit, with total traveller numbers down by 13% on the year.

Separate government statistics out on Friday show that the number of overseas tourists visiting the UK during the three months to November were 2% down on year earlier levels.

Earnings shortfall

The drop in visitor numbers cut revenues from tourism to �2.6bn, 5% down on the previous three-month period.

Both sets of figures reflect the impact of the 11 September attacks and the slowing global economy.

But in a sign that the air travel slump may be bottoming out, UK passenger numbers rose to their highest level since the 11 September attacks last month.

"Much of December's improvement can be attributed to very strong Christmas holiday traffic, where in the seven days ending December 13 passenger numbers were similiar to last year," BAA said in a statement.

BAA runs a total of seven airports in the UK, including Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick in London.

The company's shares were marked 2p lower at 588p in early trade on Friday.

Birmingham slowdown

The events of 11 September were also blamed for a 5% dip in passenger numbers at Birmingham airport, the UK's fifth largest, during the final three months of 2001.

The airport said on Friday that passenger numbers were 5% down on the same period one year earlier, with the total for December alone falling by a steep 6.4%.

"2001 saw 10 years of consistent growth brought to a halt by the terrible events of September 11th," said Brian Summers, the airport's managing director.

But passenger numbers at Birmingham rose to 7.8m for the year as a whole, 2.8% up on 2000.

Earlier this month, five people died when a private jet crashed at Birmingham airport.