GLASGOW and Edinburgh airports both enjoyed strong year-on-year growth in passenger numbers in January, the latest monthly figures have shown.

Budget airline Ryanair played a significant part in the increased passenger traffic at Glasgow and Edinburgh, as both airports built on impressive performances during 2014.

Edinburgh Airport, which notched up a second consecutive record year in 2014 in terms of passenger numbers, said yesterday that its January 2015 traffic figure was up by seven per cent on the same month of last year at 628,285.

It cited a boost to both domestic and international passenger numbers from Ryanair services. It also flagged the benefits of Qatar Airways' service to Doha, which started in May last year.

The airport highlighted the boost to passenger numbers from an increased number of flights to London.

Edinburgh Airport recorded domestic passenger numbers of 344,840 in January, up by 7.2 per cent on the same month of last year.

It added: "This is primarily due to Ryanair's new three-times-daily service to London Stansted and BA Cityflyer's London City service, which is now operating 12 times per day. With Flybe also launching a new London City service in October and increased British Airways' flights, passengers have the choice of over 50 daily London flights."

The airport noted that its international passenger numbers had come in at 283,445 in January, up by 7.1 per cent on the same month of 2014.

Explaining this rise, it said: "This increase is a result of Ryanair's new four-times-daily service to Dublin, increased capacity on Paris Charles De Gaulle with AirFrance's HOP! service, as well as Qatar Airways' five-per-week service to Doha which started last May."

Edinburgh Airport said last month that its passenger numbers had totalled 10.175 million in 2014. This was up by about four per cent on 2013, which had also been a record-breaking year.

The airport highlighted an 89.6 per cent rise in long-haul traffic. This was attributed to Qatar Airways' new service, and to new US routes, to Chicago with United Airlines and Philadelphia with US Airways. Edinburgh Airport also noted last month that Air Canada Rouge had increased the frequency of its services.

Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said of the latest monthly passenger figures: "Following our record-breaking year in 2014, we've started 2015 with a spring in our step and a renewed focus on what we want to deliver for our passengers.

"We saw a great performance from our new domestic services last month, with more new routes launching this spring, and are continuing to develop our facilities for passengers and airlines. The next few months will be an exciting time for our airport. "

He added: "With the RBS Six Nations now under way, we're expecting to be busy, with thousands of rugby fans travelling through the airport over the next few weeks."

Glasgow Airport said yesterday that 485,685 passengers had travelled through its doors in January, 11.4 per cent more than in the same month of last year.

Its international passenger numbers came in at 213,735 in January, up by 18.1 per cent on the same month of last year.

The airport cited the boost from flights by Ryanair and Wizz Air to Eastern Europe.

It also noted that airlines including Emirates, United, and Icelandair had reported an increase in demand.

Domestic passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport in January were, at 271,950, up by 6.6 per cent on the same month of last year.

The airport cited the benefits of British Airways' decision to add capacity on its Heathrow and London City routes.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, said: "It was always going to be a challenge to follow 2014's performance but we have managed to continue where we left off and record yet another month of growth.

"January is traditionally a quiet period but we experienced a marked increase in demand for international travel, particularly to some of the European destinations we have added in recent months, including Wroclaw and Katowice."

Glasgow Airport raised passenger numbers by 4.8 per cent in 2014 to 7.71 million, its highest figure since 2008.

Aberdeen International Airport said that its passenger numbers totalled 252,561 in January, up by 0.5 per cent on the same month of 2014.

Managing director Carol Benzie said: "We are delighted to see passenger numbers holding strong despite testing weather conditions throughout January, including high winds, snow and ice."