United Kingdom Transportation - 2024

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

1,043 (2024)

Heliports

92 (2024)

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: 416,461 km (2022)

Waterways

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

Merchant marine

total: 868 (2023)

by type: bulk carrier 34, container ship 46, general cargo 62, oil tanker 13, other 713

 note: includes Channel Islands (total fleet 2; general cargo 1, other 1); excludes Isle of Man

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)