Gatwick Airport has become busier as a result of chaos on the railways, according to figures released today.

The Civil Aviation Authority says the airport handled 1.5 million more passengers last year than the year before.

During November and December last year, after the Hatfield train crash, domestic passenger numbers grew at Gatwick by more than 14 per cent compared with the corresponding months in 1999.

But passenger increases at Gatwick and Heathrow were not as dramatic as those at Stansted and Luton, which are home to low-cost airlines.

Since 1990 the number of passengers travelling to and from Gatwick has increased by 50 per cent.

But the numbers of people travelling to and from Stansted has grown by 900 per cent while the number of people travelling to and from Luton has risen by 130 per cent.