Passenger numbers up, up and away after airline's expansion

Published on Monday 11 May 2009 22:11

MAJOR expansion by no-frills airline Ryanair helped lift passenger figures at Scotland's busiest airport in April after nearly a year of decline caused by the faltering economy.

Passenger numbers at Edinburgh airport were up 4 per cent on a year ago – the first rise for ten months – with this year's later Easter boosting the total.

However, there was further gloom at the country's two other main airports, with Glasgow's passenger total slumping by nearly 12 per cent and Aberdeen's by almost 11 per cent.

Ryanair launched ten routes from Edinburgh since March, bringing the total to 28 – four times that of a year ago. They include Rome, Poitiers and Malta. The airline expects these will generate 1.8 million passengers a year – more than one in five of the airport's total.

A spokesman for BAA, which runs the airports, said: "The overall drop in BAA Scotland's passenger numbers was not as acute as in previous months, partly as a result of the Easter getaway. Edinburgh enjoyed a boost to its passenger numbers due to recent expansion from Ryanair."

Easter fell in March last year. The April boost slackened Edinburgh's underlying decline, with passenger numbers falling by 4 per cent overall so far this year, and by 2.5 per cent to 8.9 million in the year to April.

Glasgow's rate of decline also eased slightly, but Aberdeen's accelerated, partly because of less oil-related activity over Easter.

Passengers at Glasgow were down 13 per cent this year, and by 9.5 per cent to 7.8 million in the year to April – the lowest for six years. At Aberdeen, passengers were down by nearly 11 per cent this year, and by 6.3 per cent to 3.2 million in the year to April. Richard Havers, an East Lothian-based aviation author and former senior airline executive, said the acid test was how Edinburgh's passenger numbers fared over the coming months.

He said: "Glasgow continues in free fall, with some passengers switching to Edinburgh with the launch of new routes. Ryanair has been driving up its passengers through low offers.

"Edinburgh traffic has been just about flat over March and April overall, so the telling point will be how Edinburgh performs in the immediate future."

Mr Havers said business travel appeared to be holding up better than leisure, which benefits Edinburgh as a greater proportion of Glasgow's traffic is charter and other holiday flights.

Aviation analyst John Strickland said: "Easter has had a positive effect overall, but Glasgow has suffered with reduced charter activity. XL, which failed last September, was a big player there."