A surge in American visitors helped give Britain's airports their biggest boost since the Iraq war - but Gatwick's overall traffic dipped.
Last month a total of 11.9 million passengers passed through BAA's seven UK airports, up four per cent on the same month last year.
A transatlantic traffic rise of one per cent was the sector's first increase since February of this year.
However, although scheduled traffic was up at Gatwick, the airport experienced an overall 2.4 per cent dip due to the fall in charter passengers.
A rise of 2.6 per cent at Heathrow meant October was its strongest month since January. Traffic at Stansted was up 17.9 per cent while Southampton rose 68.1 per cent.
The 7.6 per cent dip in the national charter market last month reflected the success of the low-cost carriers and the increasing desire of tourists to travel independently.
Office for National Statistics data last week showed American tourists visiting the UK in September 2003 was 14 per cent higher than in the same month last year.
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