Seventh month of growth at city airport

Published on Tuesday 10 November 2009 20:48

SCOTLAND'S busiest airport has seen higher passenger numbers for a seventh month in a row.

Edinburgh saw its passenger total grow by 3.8 per cent to 824,600 in October on a year ago, largely due to expansion by Ryanair. The annual figure was steady at nearly 9.1 million after shrinking for nearly a year.

The amount of cargo handled at the airport was up by almost three-quarters over the year.

However, the monthly figures from airports operator BAA brought more grim news for Glasgow Airport, where passenger numbers fell 9.2 per cent to 715,200 in October and slumped 12.1 per cent over the past year.

Glasgow's international traffic is falling almost as fast as Edinburgh's is growing – down 11 per cent and up 15 per cent respectively.

Glasgow will mothball its T2 check-in hall, used by EasyJet and Thomas Cook, from next Tuesday until April next year.

Aberdeen Airport also saw its passenger numbers down – by 8.3 per cent to 277,300 last month and down 9.5 per cent over the past year.

Prestwick fared worse still – passenger numbers in September dropped 28 per cent due to Ryanair cuts and the loss of charter flights.