GLASGOW, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen airports all achieved further solid year-on-year growth in passenger numbers in April, the latest figures have shown.

And Aberdeen International Airport declared that it had enjoyed its strongest opening four months of any year on record.

Glasgow Airport reported yesterday that its passenger numbers in April totalled more than 576,300, up by 4.9 percent on the same month of 2013. International passenger numbers totalled 268,918 in April up 7.9 percent on the same month of last year.

Domestic passenger numbers last month were up by 2.4 percent on April 2013 at 307,400.

Glasgow Airport noted that April had marked the start of its summer season and, with it, the return of airlines including Air Malta, US Airways and Virgin Atlantic, all of which had put on extra capacity for 2014.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, cited an expected boost to passenger numbers this month from event and conference business, while looking forward to an "exciting summer".

She said: "We are continuing to benefit from the city's success in securing large scale events such as BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, which will take place later this month. Glasgow will also host a number of major conferences during May, which play an important role in attracting inbound business tourism."

She added: "We will continue to work closely with our city partners to further enhance Glasgow's international standing and, with events such as the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup still to come, it promises to be an exciting summer."

Edinburgh Airport said yesterday that its passenger numbers in April had totalled 842,372. This was up 4.9 per cent on the same month of 2013 - matching the year-on-year growth rate recorded by Glasgow in April.

Domestic passenger numbers at Edinburgh last month, at 388,160, were up by 5.5 percent on April 2013. International passenger numbers in April were up by 4.5 percent on the same month of last year at 454,212. The airport cited the boost to passenger numbers arising from people heading off for Easter getaways.

Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, cited a strong performance by Virgin Atlantic's Little Red service to London Heathrow.

He added: "The introduction of new easyJet services to Bodrum and Heraklion, Turkish Airlines adding a new daily flight to Istanbul, and Lufthansa's new twice-daily service to Frankfurt all contributed to a healthy rise in international passengers. Last month also saw the launch of Scandinavian Airlines' new routes to Oslo and Stavanger. The airline has also increased to four weekly services to Stockholm."

Aberdeen International Airport yesterday reported passenger numbers of 310,378 for April, up by 9.1 percent on the same month of last year and boosted partly by the timing of Easter.