A TYPICAL picture has emerged recently in the monthly passengers numbers for Scotland’s airports: Glasgow and Edinburgh break records at a rate similar to Concorde in its pomp, while Aberdeen faces drink-spilling turbulence.
The accounts for ASG Airports, which owns Glasgow and Aberdeen Airports, reflect this, highlighting the extent of the oil and gas downturn on the latter. While revenue at Glasgow climbed 4.8 per cent to £112m, Aberdeen fell 13.8 per cent to £56m.
At the time of ASG’s creation in late 2014, when the business established by Ferrovial and Macquarrie acquired Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports in a £1billion deal, Brent Crude was already sliding sharply.
The owners would be forgiven for reaching for the oxygen mask when seeing the impact this has subsequently had on revenue, but returning to passenger numbers, it would seem 2017 is looking better for Aberdeen Airport.
In spite of warnings in the accounts that numbers would remain at 2016 levels this year, the airport is making progress.
In August, both domestic and international traffic increased, with total passenger numbers up 3.1 per cent, driven by a 4.2 per cent lift in fixed-wing passengers. The issue for Aberdeen is the steady decline of helicopter traffic but by improving the leisure routes on offer, ASG bosses may begin to breathe a little easier.
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