United Kingdom Transportation - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

National air transport system

number of registered air carriers: 20 (2020)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 794

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 165,388,610 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 6,198,370,000 (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

G

Airports

total: 460 (2021)

Airports - with paved runways

total: 271

over 3,047 m: 7

2,438 to 3,047 m: 29

1,524 to 2,437 m: 89

914 to 1,523 m: 80

under 914 m: 66 (2021)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total: 189

1,524 to 2,437 m: 3

914 to 1,523 m: 26

under 914 m: 160 (2021)

Heliports

9 (2021)

Pipelines

502 km condensate, 9 km condensate/gas, 28,603 km gas, 59 km liquid petroleum gas, 5,256 km oil, 175 km oil/gas/water, 4,919 km refined products, 255 km water (2013)

Railways

total: 16,837 km (2015)

standard gauge: 16,534 km (2015) 1.435-m gauge (5,357 km electrified)

broad gauge: 303 km (2015) 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland)

Roadways

total: 394,428 km (2009)

paved: 394,428 km (2009) (includes 3,519 km of expressways)

Waterways

3,200 km (2009) (620 km used for commerce)

Merchant marine

total: 1,249

by type: bulk carrier 140, container ship 59, general cargo 109, oil tanker 84, other 857 (2021)

Ports and terminals

major seaport(s): Dover, Felixstowe, Immingham, Liverpool, London, Southampton, Teesport (England); Forth Ports (Scotland); Milford Haven (Wales)

oil terminal(s): Fawley Marine terminal, Liverpool Bay terminal (England); Braefoot Bay terminal, Finnart oil terminal, Hound Point terminal (Scotland)

container port(s) (TEUs): Felixstowe (3,584,000), London (2,790,000), Southampton (1,924,847) (2019)

LNG terminal(s) (import): Dragon, Isle of Grain, South Hook, Teesside

Transportation - note

note 1: begun in 1988 and completed in 1994, the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed the Chunnel) is a 50.5-km (31.4-mi) rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover that runs from Folkestone, Kent, England to Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais in northern France; it is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and mainland Europe

note 2: the UK operates one PC 3 or 4 class medium icebreaker in the South Atlantic in support of operations in Antarctica
note - PC 3 - year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 2.5 m); PC 4 - year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 120 cm)

NOTE: The information regarding United Kingdom on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of United Kingdom 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about United Kingdom 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.