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The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has published its end-of-year report for 2018, with revenue from vinyl sales in the US reaching its highest point since 1988.

Read next: The official list of Record Store Day 2019 releases

Climbing 8% from 2017, revenue from vinyl sales now accounts for a more than one third of all physical formats. CD sales revenue fell a staggering 34% to $698million, the first time the format has generated less than $1billion since 1986.

In the bigger picture, things were looking more positive, with overall revenue growing 12% to an estimated $9.8billion. Much of this is down to a 30% rise in streaming revenue, which now accounts for 75% of all formats. By contrast, physical formats account for 12%, with digital downloads at just 11%.

You can read the report in full below.

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Revenue from US vinyl sales climbs to 30 year high

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The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has published its end-of-year report for 2018, with revenue from vinyl sales in the US reaching its highest point since 1988. Read next: The official list of Record Store Day 2019 releases Climbing 8% from 2017, revenue from vinyl sales now accounts for a more than one third of all physical formats.

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What’s Going On in This Graph? | Feb. 6, 2019 (Published 2019)

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Look closely at this graph, and join the moderated conversation about what you and other students see.

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Sales of vinyl have enjoyed a massive revival over the past decade - up by a remarkable 1,472 per cent since 2007. However, new figures from record labels' association the BPI based on Official Charts data suggest that demand for LPs now enjoys a particular boost in the run up to Christmas as more consumers turn to the format for their music gift purchasing.

This trend has become more pronounced over the past two to three years, encouraging the BPI to predict that over 1 million LPs will be sold in the nation's high street stores and online this December. This would be the highest December volume since Official Charts records began in 1994, and such an amount would contribute to a likely annual total of around 4 million vinyl LP sales for the whole of 2017.

Just over a quarter of vinyl purchases now typically fall in December (25.8%) and, to further underline the format's appeal as a Christmas gift item, in just the final week before Christmas last year an impressive 213,000 LPs were snapped up - equivalent to 1 in 15 of all the LPs sold in 2016. This pattern is reinforced by the fact that, as recently as 2013, vinyl accounted for as little as 0.6 per cent of overall music consumption in December (including CDs, downloads & streams), but by 2016 its proportion had risen to 4 per cent. This contrasts with 2.4 per cent for the rest of the year. This December the figure is set to rise above 5 per cent.

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI & BRIT Awards, said: " More and more of us have been rediscovering the joys of vinyl as artists and labels release more of their new titles and classic albums in the format. The aesthetic appeal of vinyl albums also make them a highly desirable Christmas gift item that friends and family will love to receive. Vinyl is aspirational, collectible and has a high perceived value despite being generally affordable, and this December we're expecting more than 1 million LPs to be purchased. "

A further indication of vinyl's growing appeal as a gift item is perhaps provided by the fact the best-selling LP of recent years has tended to mirror the best-selling album title overall. Typically vinyl sales are dominated by heritage rock acts such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Oasis and Radiohead, but in 2015 Adele's 25 was not only the best-selling album title overall, it also topped the year's Official Vinyl Chart. In 2017 it's quite possible that Ed Sheeran's Divide will do the same. Last year Amy Winehouse's classic Back to Black was the biggest-selling vinyl title in December and the second-highest seller for the year overall - suggesting that more traditional patterns of vinyl purchasing are now being challenged, in part prompted by gifting.

Vinyl's growing allure among gift purchasers lies, in part, in its deluxe packaging and limited edition record label releases, which help to enhance its exclusivity and underpin its appeal to collectors young and old.

Phil Barton, Owner of leading independent store in London's Berwick Street, Sister Ray, said: " Vinyl makes a great gift, especially as it's perceived as a premium purchase. Not only does the recipient get a great present but the buyer knows their gift will be appreciated and won't be forgotten by Boxing Day. We see a lot of customers intent on buying "the right gift" - buying vinyl means everyone wins.

"As a wide-ranging stockist, we know which titles sell well but at Christmas more expensive, rare items fly out of the door. Demand for top-end vinyl continues to rise and we see no slow-down in people willing to pay a premium for such scarce and collectible items that are also likely to appreciate in value. "

Another key factor is that music retailers, such as HMV and Fopp, are dedicating much more of their floor-space to vinyl whilst also featuring it more prominently in their Christmas campaigns. Supermarkets are also investing in the format, with both Sainsbury's and Tesco launching their own ranges in recent years. Festive sales of vinyl are also being boosted by a massive surge in demand for record players - last year HMV reported that they were selling as many as one a minute in the final week before Christmas.

John Hirst, hmv Music Manager, said: "2017 is already set to be our biggest year on vinyl since the late 80s and Q4 gifting will be a massive part of that. In addition to the ever-expanding range of LPs we stock in our stores, the top 100 titles will be racked prominently in the gifting areas at the front of all hmv stores throughout December, putting vinyl in front of over 15 million hmv customers across the key gifting period."

Vinyl is popular with artists, with many enthusiastically releasing LPs alongside other formats. Their record labels have invested hugely in the vinyl format, often producing it to the highest deluxe standards, including as box sets, to enhance its aesthetic appeal and collectability. Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Sam Smith, The Beatles, Rag'n'Bone Man and George Michael are among the artists likely to enjoy best-selling vinyl LPs this Christmas alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack.

Recent research also suggests that the demographic of vinyl buyers is beginning to broaden. Kantar Worldpanel data for the 24 weeks ending 22 nd October 2017 shows that nearly a quarter (22.9%) of British spend on vinyl was by purchasers aged 34 or below. This compares with just over a fifth (20.6%) of CD purchasing. The data also indicated that female fans now account for around a quarter of vinyl purchasing (25.4%). Such figures challenge the long-held perception that vinyl is the preserve of 'baby-boomer' males.

The Kantar data additionally reports that almost a quarter of those who expressed an intention to purchase a record turntable in the run up to Christmas are aged under 35 and almost half (46%) are female - again reinforcing the notion that vinyl is opening up to a less traditional audience.

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Vinyl set for 1 million LPs gifting bonanza this Christmas - bpi

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Sales of vinyl have enjoyed a massive revival over the past decade - up by a remarkable 1,472 per cent since 2007. However, new figures from record labels' association the BPI based on Official Charts data suggest that demand for LPs now enjoys a particular boost in the run up to Christmas as more consumers turn to the format for their music gift purchasing.

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Participating in a run/walk event, commonly referred to as a "Turkey Trot," on Thanksgiving Day is an annual event for many. There are over 750 Turkey Trots scheduled in 2023, with more than 250,000 people signed up to participate.

Turkey Trot registrations in 2023 are up 9.9% from 2022.1 Will there be similar increases in other forms of recreation/active transportation on Thanksgiving Day this year?

Since 2019, e-scooter and bikeshare (both docked and dockless) trips on

Fleet Composition of Rail Tank Cars Carrying Flammable Liquids: 2022 Report

Section 7308 of the FAST Act requires DOT to assemble and collect data on rail tank cars transporting Class 3 flammable liquids. The objective of this legislation is to track the progress in upgrading the rail tank car fleet to new safety requirements and to provide an annual status report to Congress.

Transportation Statistics Annual Report 2022 (TSAR)

The TSAR presents an overview of the U.S. transportation system and key indicators, including passenger travel, freight, transportation and the economy, reliability, safety, energy and the environment. The report also focuses on closing data gaps and improving how transportation statistics are collected, compiled, analyzed, and published.

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The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), part of the Department of Transportation (DOT) is the preeminent source of statistics on commercial aviation, multimodal freight activity, and transportation economics, and provides context to decision makers and the public for understanding statistics on transportation.

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Punctuality statistics are calculated for 25 UK Airports. The planned time of operation is obtained from the airport scheduling committees and merged in with the actual time of operation on the air transport movement records collected in UK Airport Statistics. Information is published each month which shows the average delays on scheduled and charter services at each of the airports both in total and at an individual route/airline level.

Southend is being included for the first time from April 2016.

It should be noted that the statistics in this notice cover only those flights which were operated; they do not cover those flights which were cancelled. Some airport or airline business models prioritise delaying flights rather than cancelling them outright.

The information contained in these reports have been compiled from various sources of data. CAA validates this data, however, no warranty is given as to its accuracy, integrity or reliability. CAA cannot accept liability for any financial loss caused by a person's reliance on any of these statistics. No statistical data provided by CAA may be sold on to a third party. CAA insists that they are referenced in any publication that makes reference to CAA Statistics.

Please note the following:

With effect from April 2016, Birmingham and Belfast International Airports actual time of operation has changed from the arrival/departure at the stand to the wheels on/off the runway. As the planned time of operation relates to the arrival/departure at the stand, estimate Taxi Times have been built in Birmingham, 10 minutes (arrivals and departures), Belfast International, 5 minutes (arrivals and departures), which have been provided by the airports. We will continue to analyse the results and reserve the right to adjust the reports accordingly. When evaluating year on year comparisons please use figures from the previous year file, as results recorded for previous year in the latest file will not provide an accurate comparison.

April and May reports have been updated.

How to contact us

If you have feedback on our published reports please contact Aviation.Intelligence@caa.co.uk. You will receive an automated reply confirming that we have received your comments.

We review every comment that we receive and, if significant issues are found with our published reporting, reports will be amended and re-published. Unfortunately, we are unable to respond to individual queries.

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Punctuality statistics are calculated for 25 UK Airports. The planned time of operation is obtained from the airport scheduling committees and merged in with the actual time of operation on the air transport movement records collected in UK Airport Statistics.

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* Over 10m people stranded or unable to board flights

* Airlines lost $1.7bn in missed revenues

* 90pc of flights cancelled in worst-affected markets: Finland, Ireland, UK

* Low-cost carriers were worse hit than long-distance carriers, cancelling some 61pc of their flights

* Travel by business jets was the least affected

* 30pc of total worldwide airline capacity was cut. European capacity was cut by 75pc, Africa by 30pc, Middle East by 20pc, others 15pc

* Airline kerosene demand fell by 1.2m barrels a day, compared with 4.3m barrels consumed on a normal day

* Emerging market currencies tied to tourism such as the Kenyan shilling and Turkisjh lira fell

* OECD said ash week cost the European economy $5bn

* Travel and tourism, including transport, lodgings and related investment, comprise about 4pc of West European GDP, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

* PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated each week of disruption destroyed around 0.025pc-0.05pc of annual British GDP; the same would probably be true of other European countries.

* While hotels received fewer incoming tourists, some were able to raise prices to take advantage of stranded tourists.

* While one volcano wreaked havoc, the economy of the volcanic islands of the Azores, governed by Portugal, got an unexpected lift: traffic boomed due to flight diversions.

Source: IATA, Eurocontrol, European Commission, Reuters

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How the 2010 ash cloud caused chaos: facts and figures

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Over 10m people stranded or unable to board flights * Airlines lost $1.7bn in missed revenues * 90pc of flights cancelled in worst-affected markets: Finland, Ireland, UK * Low-cost carriers were worse hit than long-distance carriers, cancelling some 61pc of their flights * Travel by business jets was the least affected * 30pc of total worldwide airline capacity was cut.

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Sign up to our FREE Webinar to discuss approaches to using this pre-release

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Sign up to our FREE Webinar to discuss approaches to using this pre-release

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AMSP | Core Maths Pre-Release Webinar - Edexcel

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Core Maths Pre-Release Webinars give an opportunity for teachers to share ideas of how pre-release source materials can be shared in the classroom. Please come along with ideas, thoughts and queries that you're happy to share. In addition, we'll provide general advice on effective ways of using the pre-release material.

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Submit ideas for questions to this google form

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Submit ideas for questions to this google form

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You will be emailed updated questions every few days

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Possible Questions based on pre-release 2019 for Edexcel

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Please add in a possible question for the upcoming 2019 papers. I will regularly email out all the questions that have been submitted.

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Maths for Economists Collection : nrich.maths.org

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Here we present a collection of NRICH problems which will be of use and interest to those hoping to study economics at university.

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Finance Edition

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Sales of vinyl in 2016 reached a 25-year high as consumers young and old have once again embraced physical formats of music.

More than 3.2m LPs were sold last year, a rise of 53% on last year and the highest number since 1991 when Simply Red's Stars was the bestselling album. This was also the first year that spending on vinyl outstripped that spent on digital downloads.

The deaths of some music world giants was a key driver in vinyl sales, as people invested in records as a mementos. After David Bowie's death he became the bestselling vinyl artist of 2016, with five albums posthumously featuring in the top 30.

His album Blackstar, which was shortlisted for a Mercury prize, was the most popular selling album of the year, while The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust, Hunky Dory, Nothing Has Changed and Changesonebowie were also popular LPs.

The statistics, compiled by BPI, show that this is the ninth consecutive year that vinyl has grown, thanks to events such as record store day, which has now become a nationwide phenomenon, and the increase in shops selling vinyl. Supermarkets such as Tesco now stock vinyl and both HMV and Rough Trade have created more floor space to sell more records.

At least 30 albums sold more than 10,000 copies in 2016, a stark contrast to 2007 when digital downloads began to take hold and a meagre total of 200,000 LPs were sold overall.

Vanessa Higgins, the CEO of Regent Street and Gold Bar Records, and an independent label member of BPI Council, said: "It's twofold in that older people are going back to vinyl but I also think the younger generation are discovering it in a way they weren't before.

"People think millennials just stream and are just digital but actually I think we are going to see increasingly over this coming year that young people still want something tangible and real and that's where vinyl is taking on the role that the CD used to have."

She said the trend towards streaming - which has rocketed 500% since 2013, with 45bn audio streams over 2016 - had led people back to vinyl as a way of tangibly owning music and because streaming had encouraged music discovery.

Higgins said: "It used to be music discovery was mainly limited to the radio, but now people are free to look and listen to all sorts of music, so people are hearing so much more new or different music than they were before. They are finding music through streaming and if they love it, they are going out and investing in it in a physical format."

Higgins said it was still mainly benefiting artists on major labels, and that for smaller labels such as hers "the capital required to invest in vinyl is a lot upfront. And because most vinyl is pressed in Europe, the price to manufacture has gone up this year."

However, she added: "I think what we are going to see this year is more smaller artists and independent labels start to benefit from vinyl as well because so many different types of music fans are now willing to go out and buy it."

Higgins predicted the digital download would disappear entirely over the next few years as it became redundant.

While vinyl sales still only account for 5% of the albums market, they are becoming increasingly important sources of income for record labels and musicians.

Jamie Oborne, the manager of Mercury-nominated band the 1975, whose debut album was Urban Outfitters' biggest selling vinyl of 2015, said: "There's been this cultural shift where people are willing to pay for music again which is brilliant. We now sell a ton of vinyl and the margins on vinyl are huge so it is really a significant source of revenue for us."

The boost in vinyl sales is part of a wider shift in the fortunes of the music industry back towards turning a profit again. In December, one the biggest global record labels, Warner Music, reported their best profits in eight years, of which $1bn (£810m) came directly from streaming, and in the first half of 2016, streaming revenue in the US grew by 57% to $1.6bn. In contrast, CD sales were down 10% on last year.

Geoff Taylor, the chief executive of the BPI and the Brit Awards, said: "Growth in UK music consumption in 2016 was fuelled by the explosive rise in audio streaming, which has increased 500% since 2013, and relative resilience from physical formats ... We believe this performance is indicative of the promise of a new era for music, where recorded music's investments in a digital future fuel compelling benefits for fans, artists and the entire music ecosystem."

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Sales of vinyl in 2016 reached a 25-year high as consumers young and old have once again embraced physical formats of music. More than 3.2m LPs were sold last year, a rise of 53% on last year and the highest number since 1991 when Simply Red's Stars was the bestselling album.

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What's Going On in This Graph?

Updated: November 15, 2018
1. This is a map that was originally published in 2015 elsewhere on NYTimes.com. The map key states, "Width of route indicates increase in Thanksgiving air travel demand." The air travel demand reflects an adjustment for the population size of the origin and destination cities. The source for the map is search data from Google Flights. On Thursday afternoon we will provide additional background about this map and relevant statistical concepts.

After looking closely at the map above (or at this full-size image), think about these three questions:

* What do you notice?
* What do you wonder?
What are you curious about that comes from what you notice in the map?
* What might be going on in this graph?
Write a catchy headline that captures the map's main idea. If your headline makes a claim, tell us what you noticed that supports your claim.

The questions are intended to build on one another, so try to answer them in order. Start with "I notice," then "I wonder," and end with "The story this map is telling is ...." and a catchy headline.

2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

3. After you have posted, read what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting a comment. Use the "Reply" button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

On Wednesday our collaborator, the American Statistical Association, will facilitate this discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time to help students' understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.

4. On Thursday afternoon, we will reveal more information about the map at the bottom of this post. Students, we encourage you to post an additional comment after reading the reveal. How does the original New York Times article and the moderators' comments help you see the graphs differently? Try to incorporate the statistical terms defined in the Stat Nuggets in your response.

_________

* Read our introductory post, which includes information about using the " Notice and Wonder" teaching strategy.
* Learn about how and why other teachers are using this feature, and use the 2018-19 "What's Going On in This Graph?" calendar to plan ahead for the 25 Wednesday releases.
* Go to the A.S.A. K-12 website, which includes is Statistics, resources, professional development, student competitions, curriculum, courses and careers.

_________
Updated: November 15, 2018
Though most Thanksgiving travel is by car, in 2017 about 4 million flew during Thanksgiving week. This week's graph is a directed graph (see Stat Nuggets for full explanation) of this surge in passenger demand during this one week. It is based on 2015 search data from Google Flights.

Planeloads of people are leaving Boston, Washington, and Atlanta. Why are so many passengers fleeing these cities? And, planeloads are going to Miami, Orlando, and Las Vegas. But, wait, these are warm vacation destinations. Are passengers getting together with family for Thanksgiving or is something else going on here?

This Thanksgiving passenger patterns graph came from the New York Times article "Pumpkin Pie in Miami: Thanksgiving Flight Patterns." It was accompanied by a time series graph showing which days and what time of day people travel during the Thanksgiving week.

Many students noticed that there were many passengers leaving Boston, New York and Washington, major employment centers with many university students. And, many students noticed Miami, Orlando, and Las Vegas were popular destinations. These are cities that are warm and have tourist attractions. Maybe people are going there for a vacation, but maybe they are also joining family there for their Thanksgiving dinner. Finally, there is a big increase in traffic in Atlanta, both going and coming. What do you think is causing this?

Two headlines that hit two different angles on the graph were from Brooklyn. Liana's "Fly to Your Turkey" and Jett's "Away From the Cold, Towards the Attractions!" Challenge: Come up a headline that combines these main ideas. Good noticing and wondering leads to snappy headlines.

Here are some questions you may want to think about critically.

* Notice which cities have the biggest increase in passengers as an origin and which cities as a destination. Is there any overlap in the lists? What characteristics do each of these subgroups have?

* What do you notice about distance traveled for these origin-destination pairs?

* Notice that the lines to and from Los Angeles are very thin. I wonder why this is so for such a large city. Can you explain this?

* The demand for air travel is calculated per capita. (See Stat Nuggets.) What does it mean to have the same increase, say 10 percent, in air travel demand for large versus small cities?

* If you can find your nearest airport on the graph, where are your "neighbors" flying for Thanksgiving? Explain whether that makes sense to you.

Below in the Stat Nuggets, we define and explain mathematical and statistical terms that apply to this graph. Look into the archives to see past Stat Nuggets.

Thank you for participating in "What's Going On in This Graph?", which is intended to help you think more critically about graphs and the underlying data. Critical thinking is an essential element of statistics, the science of learning from data. Data visualizations, like this graph, are an important part of statistics. They help us to understand and learn from data.

Keep noticing and wondering. We continue to welcome your responses.

On Thursday, November 22, we'll release two graphs about the age of first-time mothers. Join us Wednesday, Nov. 28, when we moderate online 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. E.T. Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

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Stat Nuggets for "Pumpkin Pie in Miami: Thanksgiving Flight Patterns" DIRECTED GRAPH
A directed graph (or digraph) shows the relationship between pairs of objects. The objects are shown as vertices (points). A pair is connected with a directed edge (arrow), which is "one-sided" like on a one-way street sign.

In the Thanksgiving passenger graph, the directed graph shows the increase in traffic for Thanksgiving between flight origins and destinations, which are the vertices. There is no arrow to show direction, but the edge's origin is red and the destination is blue. The width of the edge indicates the increase in Thanksgiving air travel as adjusted by the combined origin and destination population.
QUANTITATIVE & CATEGORICAL VARIABLES
Quantitative variables have numbers as possible values. They have units and can be ordered. Categorical (also called qualitative) variables, like favorite color, have possible values that are not numbers.

In the Thanksgiving passenger graph, there is one quantitative variable (increase in number of people flying as represented by width of the edge), and one categorical variable (origin-destination combination, with order specified by red as origin and blue as destination).
ACTUAL VALUE vs. PER CAPITA VALUE
An actual value is the observed number of items in a group with some characteristic. The per capita value is the observed number of items divided by the population of the area of interest.

In the Thanksgiving passenger graph, the actual increase in the number of passengers between each pair of origin and destination cities is adjusted by the combined populations of these two cities. This may change the ordering of cities compared to the ordering based on the increase in the number of passengers. For example, Atlanta and Chicago are about tied for the increase in number of passengers, but Atlanta's per capita increase in number of passengers is almost six times Chicago's per capita increase in number of passengers.

_________
The graphs for "What's Going On in This Graph?" are selected in partnership with Sharon Hessney. Ms. Hessney writes the "reveal" and Stat Nuggets with Roxy Peck, a professor emerita at the California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, and moderated online with Heather Johnson, an associate professor of Math Education at the University of Colorado Denver.

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What's Going On in This Graph? | Nov. 14, 2018

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What's Going On in This Graph? Updated: November 15, 2018 1. This is a map that was originally published in 2015 elsewhere on NYTimes.com. The map key states, "Width of route indicates increase in Thanksgiving air travel demand." The air travel demand reflects an adjustment for the population size of the origin and destination cities.

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All the latest breaking news on flight delays. Browse The Independent's complete collection of articles and commentary on flight delays.

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Practice Questions and Answers shared by Tom Whittaker

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Practice Questions and Answers shared by Tom Whittaker

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FlightStats Global Cancellations and Delays

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The global flight cancellation and delay tracker from flightstats.com is the most trusted and comprehensive day-of-travel snapshot.

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Heathrow's third runway moved a step closer to reality this week after controversial plans that could see aircraft taxi over a new M25 tunnel were approved by ministers - and £2.6bn set aside to compensate residents.

MPs will vote on the expansion in the next few weeks. Opponents say it will damage the environment and exacerbate noise pollution for locals, but what isn't in doubt is the need for a new runway if Heathrow is to compete with its European rivals and remain one of the world's megahubs.

Once the busiest airport in the world for international traffic, and third overall as recently as 2014, it has since slipped to seventh in the global rankings. Dubai, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Chicago have usurped it, and others - such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Amsterdam - are closing the gap fast.

There are other factors at play, such as a sharp rise in demand for flights across Asia, but a lack of capacity is the key reason why Heathrow is falling behind.

Two runways can only handle a limited number of passengers - just over 78m last year. Should it get a third, that could rise to 130m.

Of the world's biggest airports, almost all use more runways than Heathrow. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest of all in terms of passenger numbers, has five, Beijing - second busiest - has three, while Tokyo, LA and Chicago have four, four and seven.

Dubai gets by with two runways, but while it handles more passengers than Heathrow, it welcomes significantly fewer flights (around 420,000 annually compared to Heathrow's 480,000). Dubai's main airline is Emirates, which has a fleet of more than 100 Airbus A380s, the biggest aircraft in the sky.

The lack of capacity has seen Heathrow stagnate in recent years. Passenger numbers rose by 3% in 2017, 1% in 2016, 2.2% in 2015 and 1.4% in 2014. Dubai, by comparison, grew by 5.5%, 7.2%, 10.7% and 6.1% over the same four years, allowing it to supplant Heathrow as the world's third busiest hub.

The rise of Dubai

Since 2011, Dubai has gone from 51m annual passengers to 88.2m - a rise of 73 per cent. A couple of major airports can match it for growth, however.

Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, over the same time period, went from 37.4m to 63.9m (+71%) and Shanghai Pudong from 41.4m to 70m (+69%). Guangzhou Baiyun International grew from 45m to 65.9m (+46.4%).

Credit: ESCHCOLLECTION

Amsterdam is closing fast

Expecting Heathrow to keep up with Dubai and Shanghai is a little unfair - demand for flights across Asia has soared in recent years. A better indicator is its performance against Western European rivals like Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt. Again, it makes unhappy reading for Britain's biggest airport.

Heathrow's growth since 2011, 12.4%, compares with Amsterdam's 37.6%, Barcelona's 37.5%, Munich's 18%, Frankfurt's 14.4% and Paris's 14%.

Returning to the original point, Amsterdam has six runways, Paris CDG and Frankfurt have four, and Barcelona have three.

Yes, Heathrow is still number one in Europe - but, without another runway, for how much longer?

What about Gatwick?

If there's an argument for Heathrow getting its wish, the same argument is equally valid for Gatwick to get another runway. While the Surrey hub does have two runways, their proximity to one another prevents simultaneous operation. For years Gatwick was the busiest single runway airport in the world and with 45.6m passengers last year it handled more travellers per runway than even Heathrow.

Since 2015, the busiest one-runway airport has been Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International, with 47.2m. Like Gatwick it has two, but never uses more than one at a time.

Could expansion at Heathrow halt growth at Britain's regional airports?

As Telegraph Travel reported earlier this week, things have never looked so good for Britain's regional airports. At the start of the decade, with the impact of the global financial crisis still being felt, they were in the doldrums. Passenger numbers were falling fast, routes were being cut, and many faced an uncertain future.

The last few years, however, have seen unprecedented growth, helped by economic recovery, the continued growth of easyJet and Ryanair, and the rise of low-cost long-haul specialists like Norwegian - but also a lack of spare capacity at Heathrow.

Passenger numbers at Birmingham, Belfast International, Newcastle, Leeds Bradford and Inverness rose by at least 10% in 2017, while the previous year saw no fewer than 13 airports outside the capital experiencing double-digit growth.

Could a third runway for Heathrow lure airlines back to the capital at the expense of our regionals?

Or should we just stop flying so much?

Is pollution a price worth paying to keep Heathrow at the top of the airport rankings? Last month it was revealed that tourism's contribution to carbon emissions is four times worse than previously thought. A study, published in Nature Climate Change, suggested that the industry accounts for eight per cent of the world's carbon emissions - a figure which was previously thought to be between two and three per cent. And the biggest single contributor to tourism's carbon footprint, according to the study, is international air travel.

Should we be favouring train travel over flights? Amsterdam, Bruges, Bordeaux, Lyon, Strasbourg and Cologne are just a few of the gems that can be reached by rail in under six hours from London. Or why don't we cut back on frequent short breaks - and all those flights - in favour of longer jaunts?

What do you think - should Heathrow get a third runway? Vote in the poll below.

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The statistics that show how Heathrow is losing its 'megahub' status

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Heathrow's third runway moved a step closer to reality this week after controversial plans that could see aircraft taxi over a new M25 tunnel were approved by ministers - and £2.6bn set aside to compensate residents. MPs will vote on the expansion in the next few weeks.

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Questions shared by SJB school in Woking

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Questions shared by SJB school in Woking

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Questions shared by SJB school in Woking

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Questions shared by SJB school in Woking

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Pre-release questions Section B Jacob Blair

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Practice Questions shared by Tom Whittaker

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Practice Questions shared by Tom Whittaker

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Pre-release questions Section A Jacob Blair

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Mock based on pre-release shared by Jay Springham

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Mock based on pre-release shared by Jay Springham

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Y13 mock paper for April mocks - based on actual source booklet for May 2019 Jay Springham

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11 Maths in Context Pre Release Data questions 2019 Ben Stephenson

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Questions shared by SJB school in Woking

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Questions shared by SJB school in Woking

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Year 13 April Mock based on May '19 pre-release answers Jay Springham

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Questions that have been submitted via google form

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Questions that have been submitted via google form

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Possible questions May 2018 Draft Document (updates LF 23rd April)