Airports operator BAA today said it had made an excellent start to the year as quarterly operating profits climbed 18.2% to £175 million.

BAA said all its operations had done well in the three months to June 30, with a record number of passengers passing through its airports, which include Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted among others.

It said improvements to security screening and equipment such as escalators had helped it to cut passenger waiting times and to cope with peak period passenger growth.

The group added that its Terminal 5 project at Heathrow was ahead of schedule and on budget.

Chief executive Mike Clasper said: "Overall, these results give confidence that our performance is on track for the year."

Monday August 02, 2004