UK airport operator BAA has said that the figure of passengers making use of its airports saw a fall in the month of May, owing to continued disturbance from the volcanic ash cloud and the British Airways strike.

Passenger numbers in BAA's airports saw a plunge of 4.5% as contrasted with May 2009.

BAA said that without the blow of the ash and the strike it would have anticipated to see a traffic increase by no less than 0.4%.

BAA operates six airports in the UK, which are as follows: Heathrow, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton.

The airport operator, which is majorly-owned by Spanish company, Ferrovial, vended out Gatwick for £1.5bn in the preceding year.

British Airways cabin crew stormed out for a total of six days during the month of May as part of a long-running industrial disagreement.

The airline has said that the figure of passengers that it carried in the previous month fell by 14.2% from a year back, partially because of the strikes.