GLASGOW and Edinburgh airports achieved record annual passenger numbers last year, the latest figures show, but Aberdeen saw a sharp decline in traffic as oil and gas sector weakness weighed.
Edinburgh Airport handled 12.37 million passengers in 2016, up by 11.1 per cent on the previous year.
Glasgow Airport meanwhile handled 9.36 million passengers last year, 7.5 per cent more than in 2015, as it celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Edinburgh Airport surged through its previous 2015 record for passenger numbers last year in spite of a 0.2 per cent dip in domestic passenger numbers.
It recorded a 21.1 per cent surge in international passenger numbers to 7.16 million in 2016 on the back of a raft of new international services, including 13 new routes launched last year from the Scottish capital by Jet2 to destinations including Kefalonia, Rhodes and Zakynthos.
Edinburgh Airport’s domestic passenger numbers totalled 5.21 million last year.
Chief executive Gordon Dewar said: “This is a great achievement for the airport, the skilled and dedicated team that work here, our partner airlines and businesses and it is also a tremendous success story for Edinburgh and for the whole of Scotland.
“We have continued to enhance passenger choice by offering more routes and more destinations, and people have responded by choosing to fly in and out of Edinburgh Airport in greater numbers than ever before.”
He added: “To have smashed this record - exceeding last year’s growth rate and having helped over 12.36 million passengers through the airport - highlights the draw of Edinburgh as a destination and the growing global appeal that Scotland holds.”
Glasgow Airport achieved solid increases in both international and domestic passenger numbers last year.
It handled 4.33 million domestic passengers in 2016, up by 5.5 per cent on the previous year.
Glasgow Airport’s international passenger numbers totalled 5.035 million last year, up by 9.2 per cent on 2015, as it benefited from a raft of new European services to destinations including Sofia and Brussels, as well as the launch of a new Toronto route.
Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, said: “2016 was an unforgettable year with so many highlights. To record our best-ever passenger numbers month after month and to carry 9.4 million passengers was a huge accomplishment, and to do it in our golden anniversary [year] was extra special.”
She added: “It was also particularly pleasing that we were able to considerably increase our connectivity across Europe and this is set to continue in 2017 with the launch of six new routes, to Munich, Bergen, Lisbon, Valencia, Palanga in Lithuania and Zadar in Croatia.”
During December alone, Glasgow Airport handled 627,518 passengers, up by 10.2 per cent on the same month of 2015.
Edinburgh Airport handled 863,147 passengers last month, up by 14.4 per cent on December 2015.
Aberdeen International Airport said yesterday that it had handled 3.1 million passengers in 2016, down by 12.2 percent on the previous year.
However, noting respective falls in domestic and international traffic of 0.4 per cent and 4.7 per cent in December, during which it handled nearly 230,00 passengers, the airport said it was taking encouragement from signs the downturn affecting the north-east economy was starting to slow.
Carol Benzie, managing director of Aberdeen International Airport, said: “As expected, 2016 proved to be challenging. However, we did see a significant slowing of the decline in our numbers during the latter part of the year. The decrease in November’s and December’s figures were the smallest we had experienced in 2016, which suggests we have come through the worst of the downturn.”
She added: “December’s helicopter traffic was impacted by adverse weather offshore so it is slightly more difficult to identify a trend.”
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