Passenger numbers at Gatwick Airport took a 6.2 per cent dive last month compared with September 2000.

The number passing through Gatwick was 0.6 per cent up on last year until the terrorist attacks in America.

But they dropped to ten per cent below last year's figures between September 12 and 30.

According to the British Airport Authority, Heathrow was the only UK airport to show a bigger drop in passengers, with numbers down 13 per cent on last year.

Four of the airport operator's five other UK airports showed an increase in overall passenger numbers.

A BAA spokeswoman said: "In view of the unprecedented degree of interest and the current level of uncertainty surrounding air travel, the BAA has released summary passenger traffic figures for September.

"However, a full commentary and details of the performance of individual market sectors, the number of aircraft movements and cargo activity, will not be released until our scheduled publication date of October 11."

British Airways revealed it carried 3.32 million passengers last month, a drop of 11.6 per cent on September 2000.

The carrier, which runs daily flights from Gatwick, said passenger numbers to the American continent had been worst hit, dipping 32.1 per cent from 720,000 in September 2000 to just 488,000 last month.

Forward bookings for this month indicated BA traffic would be down between 25 and 30 per cent on October 2000 figures.

A fortnight ago, BA revealed it was cutting 5,200 jobs on top of the 1,500 job losses it announced in August due to the global economic slowdown.

A number of routes are also being cut and there are fears among union bosses that BA will pull out of Gatwick.

Earlier this week Aviance, which provides baggage handlers and check-in staff for various airlines at Gatwick, announced it was cutting hundreds of jobs in the wake of the terrorist strikes.

Virgin, which also operates out of Gatwick, announced it was cutting 1,800 jobs.

It is still not clear how many airport workers in Sussex will be affected.

A BA spokesman said: "Until any retaliatory action becomes clear, the outlook will remain unpredictable.

"Costs for insurance and security are expected to rise significantly.

"We are in a sound position in spite of the immediate revenue pressure, having responded quickly with a series of measures to reduce the scale of our business."