SCOTLAND’s airports broke records last month, with passenger numbers soaring over the summer.
Edinburgh had its busiest August on record with more than 1.4 million travellers passing through its doors for the second consecutive month.
The city’s festivals prompted a rise in international visitors of 11.4 per cent on the same month last year.
Chief executive Gordon Dewar said: “The attraction of the festivals was a driver in what was another record month for the airport and it was also the first time we’ve had two consecutive months of 1.4 million plus passengers, which is incredible.
“That growth is fantastic for the city and the country and is only going to continue, which is why we’re extending the terminal building as part of an £80 million investment plan to help the airport handle continuing growth in forecasted passenger numbers.”
Glasgow Airport also had its busiest August on record with more than 1,008,800 passengers.
Bosses say this was a seven per cent increase on the same period last year as they registered one million- plus passengers during June, July and August for the first time in the airport’s history. EU scheduled services increased by 17 per cent on last year’s figures.
Long-haul routes such as Virgin’s Orlando flights and Emirates’s Dubai service were up 16 per cent, with the Dubai route passing a four-million passenger milestone in August.
Overall international traffic grew by 12.4 per cent, with transatlantic services to New York, Philadelphia, Toronto and Vancouver reporting strong demand.
Amanda McMillan, Glasgow Airport’s managing director, said: “Summer is our peak time of year as people head off on their holidays, but our August passenger numbers were also boosted considerably by a series of high-profile events.
“They included the World Pipe Band Championships and the Total BWF Badminton World Championships, which attracted thousands of visitors and comp- etitors to the city.
“The launch of Ryanair’s daily Frankfurt service has helped us make a strong start to September, while the introduction of the airline’s new Madrid and Krakow routes next month will further strengthen our European connectivity and offer our passengers an even greater destination choice.”
Aberdeen International Airport also reported an increase in total passenger numbers for August, with increases in both domestic and international figures.
Airport chiefs said 292,607 passengers travelled through the airport, a 3.1 per cent increase compared with August 2016.
Managing director Carol Benzie said: “It is encouraging to see the continued increase in our domestic and international traffic.
“We believe that these increases continue to reflect a heightened level of confidence across the north east region.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here