EASYROME

There's so much rhetoric about flying that sometimes you're not quite sure whether to board a plane or not. If it's not delays it's the threat of something else from a long list of 'possibles'.

However, the number of passengers still seems to be increasing according to BAA, the leading airport company that owns seven of the UK's airports including the largest, London Heathrow.

The company, which also has interests in a number of overseas airports, claims that some 1,700 aircraft a day take off from its UK airports - one every 30 seconds.

And the number of passengers passing through BAA airports in August 2008 soared to 15.2 million according to company data released recently.

The 5.9 per cent rise in passenger figures, compared to July, drew on a marked increase in European scheduled traffic, with 8.2 per cent passenger growth and a 10.2 per cent rise in the number of passengers travelling to the north Atlantic including America.

Little wonder, therefore, that there always seems to be pressure on governments to increase airport capacity. On the one hand the 'greens' claim that too much pressure from the skies will have a detrimental effect on the environment, whilst the business community say that the UK will become uncompetitive if it doesn't allow more planes to land and take off. No doubt similar arguments are put forward by politicians and business leaders the world over.

However, the rise in personal wealth that has continued for many since the late 50's, has created a changing world centred on shopping, materialism and the desire to see more of the world.

And it is something that airlines have not been slow to capitalise upon. Cheap flights from the likes of Jet2 and Ryanair have spawned a whole new industry committed to cramming as many people on aeroplanes as possible for the lowest possible cost.

This has not only fuelled numbers of people travelling compared with years ago, but international holiday hops have become more accessible to those people that, in a previous life, would never have dreamed of crossing the ocean; Blackpool, Bridlington or Margate was once the lot of the blue collar worker.

However, with more disposable cash, bigger desires - fuelled by TV and advertisers - there are greater 'wants' in life and people are prepared to put their money where their mouths are, pack their cases and head for the local airport.

And no longer is it just Heathrow and Manchester airports. There are now regional airports across the UK and most of them offer some kind of holiday deal. Travelling abroad has become so much easier.

Will it continue? Only the futurologists can hope to predict! While ever there's disposable cash people will be happy to jump on a plane. However, whether the money flow will continue in years to come, is a matter of much speculation. If the airlines have anything to do with it they will fight tooth and nail to hold on to their market share and to keep international flight at the forefront of people's minds, but if the politicians and the environmentalists join the debate more vociferously, then it could be a very different story. Happy flying!

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Article Source: Articlespan