United Kingdom Transportation - 2023

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

460 (2021)

Airports - with paved runways

271

note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

189

note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

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: 16,390 km (2020) 6,167 km electrified

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: 1,174

by type: bulk carrier 133, container ship 58, general cargo 97, oil tanker 73, other 813 (2022)

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 (3,700,000), London (3,111,000), Southampton (1,871,081) (2021)

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 indicates a Polar Class vessel: 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 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of United Kingdom 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about United Kingdom 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.