2006 is Record Year for Airport

By GRAEME MURRAY

GLASGOW Airport bosses today said 2006 was a record year as international passenger numbers continued to grow.

New figures from airport operator BAA Scotland show 8.83million passengers flew from Glasgow last year, a rise of 0.6-per cent on 2005.

And bosses say the airport – which kept its dominance over Edinburgh last year – saw a surge in international traffic last month, with passenger numbers up 12.2-per cent.

In total the Abbotsinch airport handled 548,893 passengers in December, up 2.3-per cent on 2005.

Edinburgh Airport was Scotland’s busiest airport last month handling 600,514 passengers, a rise of 0.3-per cent on the previous year.

Its international passenger numbers grew by 29-per cent and overall last year Edinburgh handled 8.6m passengers, up 1.9-per cent on 2005.

Aberdeen Airport was BAA’s fastest growing airport with 250,771 passengers in December, up 9.5-per cent on the previous year. Last year it handled almost 3.2m passengers, up 10.9-per cent on 2005.

BAA Scotland divisional managing director Stephen Baxter said: “By any standards, 2006 was a good year for Scotland’s busiest airports, with record passenger numbers, massive ongoing investment in new facilities and a raft of new international routes.”

All three hubs enjoyed a surge in international traffic.

More than 30 new services were introduced in 2006 from the three airports, including flights to Berlin, Helsinki, Hamburg, Warsaw, Atlanta and Orlando.

These helped international traffic grow by 8.8-per cent compared to 2005, while the overall number of flyers on international flights to and from Scotland grew to nearly 8m people. Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen Airports handled a total of 20.6m passengers last year, up 2.6-per cent on 2005.

As international services increased, domestic traffic fell by 1.4- per cent as more passengers opted to fly direct to and from Scotland.

Last month, international traffic was up 17.8-per cent on the previous year.

TOURISM chiefs are to close their only public office in London in March after a drop in visitors.

VisitScotland’s centre is no longer viable, bosses say, as more tourists book trips on the internet.

(c) 2007 Evening Times; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.