GLASGOW Airport has enjoyed its busiest November for six years, with strong growth in international passenger traffic more than offsetting a dip in domestic travel.

The airport said yesterday that nearly 514,000 people had travelled through its doors last month, up 3.1% on November 2012.

It unveiled a 10.9% year-on-year rise in international passenger traffic in November.

Glasgow Airport, part of the Heathrow Airport Holdings operation known formerly as BAA, attributed the strength of its international passenger traffic to strong demand for a number of its long-haul routes, including Emirates' 14 weekly flights to Dubai and United Airlines' Newark service.

It added that the decision by easyJet and KLM to add extra capacity on their respective Amsterdam services, for Celtic's Champions League clash with Ajax, had also contributed to the year-on-year increase in international traffic in November.

A spokesman for Glasgow Airport said that domestic passenger numbers last month had been down 1.4% on November 2012.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, said: "Not only have we been able to report our busiest November in six years, we enjoyed our tenth consecutive month of (year-on-year) passenger growth. We have been consistently growing passenger numbers over the course of the past three years and much of our recent success has been driven by the performance of our international routes, which is particularly pleasing."

Edinburgh Airport, which was bought by Global Infrastructure Partners last year, said yesterday that it had enjoyed an 8.5% year-on-year rise in passenger numbers in November, to 685,929.

International passenger numbers at Edinburgh Airport last month were up 18.6% year-on-year at 290,641. Domestic passenger numbers in November were up 2.1% on the same month of last year at 395,288.

Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: "Last month, we delivered what we've been promising for some time with the announcement of new long-haul services to America, Canada and the Middle East. These will strengthen our route network and provide our passengers with even more choice."

Aberdeen International Airport, part of Heathrow Airport Holdings, said yesterday that it had been used by more than 287,000 passengers last month, up 4.3% on November 2012.