GLASGOW Airport is expecting its busiest October week in three years as holidaymakers defy the UK's economic gloom and take to the skies.
More than 400,000 passengers are expected to have flown between October 7 and 21 based on existing bookings, an increase of 14% on last year, though still short of a peak recorded in 2006, when there were 455,000 passengers.
The figures appear to confirm a resurgence of popularity for short overseas holidays after a two-year dip in which more families chose to take breaks within the UK.
Aberdeen and Edinburgh airports have also confirmed an upswing in passenger numbers over the October break, in line with a general recovery for the aviation sector in Scotland.
Most of Scotland’s school holidays fall next week.
The majority of Glasgow’s passengers are heading to popular sunspots such as the Canary Islands, Turkey, the Balearic Islands and Florida, a spokeswoman for the airport said. A number of airlines, including Thomas Cook, have added thousands of extra seats on existing routes to accommodate the demand.
Francois Bourienne, commercial director at Glasgow Airport, said: “Our passenger figures show we are heading for one of our busiest October getaways to date. The re-growth in passengers numbers is a welcome boost and the response shown by our airline partners has been fantastic, with many adding extra capacity on popular routes.”
An Edinburgh Airport spokesman said: “Continuing on from our busiest September and seventh consecutive busiest month on record, we forecast an increase in passenger numbers over the next week and a slight increase on this time last year.”
A spokeswoman for Aberdeen Airport said: “Due to the early start for us, Friday, October 7, has become the airport busiest day on record with 6919 passengers processed through security in one day, and a similar number of arriving passengers.”
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