Scotland’s airports see huge boost in passenger numbers

SCOTLAND’S regional airports have seen a massive boost in passenger numbers - thanks to a whisky festival, a schools project, golf and increased oil-related traffic.

Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, which runs 11 sites, said passenger numbers rose by 7.8% to 114,366.

The busiest included Islay during the isle’s whisky festival, Sumburgh in shetland because of oil-related work and Stornoway due to school building work.

At Sumburgh, passenger numbers rose by 17.9%, boosted by increasing oil sector traffic, the launch of seasonal flights to Bergen in Norway, and strong growth on the Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow routes.

Passenger numbers were also up at Kirkwall, with growth on the Aberdeen and Edinburgh routes resulting in a 3.5% increase. At Wick, additional oil sector movements generated a 9% rise in numbers.

The on-going schools construction project at Stornoway increased passengers by 3.3%.

At Islay the success of the Whisky festival resulted in a passenger increase of 13.4%.

At Campbeltown, golf related charters and growth on the Glasgow route increased passenger numbers by 41.8%. Additional scheduled flights increased passenger numbers at Barra by 19.4%.

However, at Dundee, passenger numbers fell by 11.3% due to reduced capacity on the London City route, and a reduction in passengers on the Belfast and Birmingham routes.

The reduction at Dundee was offset slightly by the earlier start this year of the Jersey charter route. At Benbecula, passenger numbers were down marginally, by 0.6%.

Inglis Lyon, managing director for HIAL, said: “The continuing success of our international services at Sumburgh and Inverness is good news for local business and leisure passengers, and the launch last month of a new code share agreement between flybe and KLM means that the Highland passengers now enjoys seamless global connections.

“A growing international network is also good news for the regional economy, creating new opportunities for businesses and tourism providers across our network.

“The domestic market is also continuing to perform strongly, with growing demand for flights to Scotland’s main cities and London Gatwick, which has become an increasingly attractive alternative to congested Heathrow.”