More passengers for BAA's airports

Across its three London airports, Stansted saw the biggest growth, with a 10.7% increase in passenger numbers.

The Essex airport, which now handles 20 million travellers a year, saw 1.84 million people pass through in June.

Heathrow was the second highest growing of BAA's airports, with a 7% increase in passengers to 5.93 million, followed by Gatwick, which expanded by 5.1%.

The group said its Scottish airports recorded a 6.3% increase in traffic against June last year, with 1.81 million people passing through Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow.

Its seventh UK airport, Southampton, handled about 137,500 passengers during the month, a 13.1% rise.

Back In May, BAA reported a 4.9% rise in yearly operating profits to �616m for the year to 31 March, while pre-tax profits before exceptional items lifted 2.3% to �536m.