Airports see record traveller numbers

Edinburgh Airport also enjoyed its busiest ever March, with traffic up 4.1 per cent to 965,291.

Glasgow Airport’s success in strengthening its European connectivity saw demand for European Union destinations increase by more than 20 per cent, with services to Paris, Valencia, Lisbon and Berlin all performing well.

Long-haul carriers Emirates and Virgin Atlantic both saw an uplift in passenger numbers, contributing to an overall increase in international traffic of 13.7 per cent.

Domestic traffic grew by 1.4 per cent with British Airways, easyJet and Flybe all reporting an increase in demand for their London and UK regional services.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport said: “Our continued growth is a direct result of our efforts in securing new routes and services for our passengers. We have succeeded in significantly strengthening our European connectivity since the start of 2016 and later this year we will launch direct flights to Madrid, Frankfurt and Krakow.”

Aberdeen has seen its airport endure a long run of declining passenger numbers since the oil and gas downturn began, but with confidence slowly returning to the city, illustrated by a number of major deals being concluded for North Sea assets in the first quarter of the year, there was a 4.3 per cent increase in international passengers and a 2.4 per cent increase in those flying on domestic routes.

But helicopter passengers remained in decline, with 11 per cent fewer passengers than in March 2016, reflecting the ongoing challenges that still exist in the North Sea.

Carol Benzie, managing director of Aberdeen Airport, said she had taken a great deal of encouragement from the performance over the past three months.

“It was apparent at the end of 2016 the decline was slowing and while it is great to see our passenger figures for March return to growth we are still operating in what remains an extremely challenging marketplace,” she said.

In February, numbers were up one per cent, but when adjusted for the 2016 leap year, this changed to a 3.4 per cent decline.

Edinburgh Airport benefited from the growth of international travellers, which outpaced domestic growth, with those flying overseas up 5.5 per cent to 520,333.

A total of 27 international services were launched from the airport in 2016, 13 of which were from Jet2.com, including the December launch of flights to Fuerteventura and Turin. Last month also saw Ryanair launch five new routes from Edinburgh, and increase the destinations served year round.

Domestic passengers were up 2.5 per cent to 444,958 as easyJet operated additional flights to London.

Gordon Dewar, Edinburgh Airport’s chief executive, said the numbers underlined the airport’s growing international ambitions.

“We have seen another solid increase in the number of international passengers which highlights the ever-increasing draw of Edinburgh as a global destination. An increase in visitors to the city stimulates the economy, creates new jobs and offers direct international links for all of Scotland,” he said.

Glasgow Airport’s Amanda McMillan also highlighted the city’s tourism and visitor plan to 2023, which sets out how it aims to attract one million more visitors to the city and position Glasgow as the gateway to Scotland. Ms McMillan noted that the airport had a role to play in achieving that target.

“Providing a greater choice of routes not only opens up a host of new markets for our passengers, it provides our tourism industry with a much needed boost by ensuring Scotland is more accessible,” she said. “If the city and Scotland are to continue to attract further visitors and enjoy the associated economic uplift, then it’s important we address the high levels of Air Passenger Duty which put our airports at a severe disadvantage when it comes to competing with our European and global counterparts.”