BAA May Traffic Down 4.5%, Hit By BA Strikes, Ash Cloud

LONDON (Dow Jones)--BAA Ltd the U.K. airport operator owned by Spain's Grupo Ferrovial SA (FER-MC) said Thursday passenger traffic in May fell 4.5% on May 2009, affected by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud and by the British Airways PLC' (BAY.LN) cabin crew industrial action. MAIN FACTS: -BAA's U.K. airports handled 8.6 million passengers in the month. -Heathrow handled 5.3 million passengers, 3.1% down on last year. -Without the impacts of the strikes and ash cloud, it is estimated that Heathrow would have recorded an increase of 2.8% and the group as whole an increase of 0.4%. -BAA's U.K. airports recorded a drop of 4.8% in the number of air transport movements. -Continuing a period of strong growth in cargo traffic, cargo tonnage was up by 36.1% at Heathrow and by 33.7% at the wider group level. -By Ian Walker, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9296; ian.walker@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 10, 2010 02:22 ET (06:22 GMT) Bay Capital