Big rise at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports but Aberdeen passenger numbers stall

The number of people travelling from Glasgow and Edinburgh airports showed a large increase in March while Aberdeen has suffered a second consecutive month of falling passenger numbers, according to latest data.

Glasgow reported 606,117 people travelling through the airport last month, a 14 per cent increase on the same period in 2014.

Edinburgh Airport reported a 6.8 per cent rise, to 791,975 passengers.

For Glasgow it was the airport’s 25th consecutive month of growth and its busiest March in seven years. International traffic grew by 22.3 per cent.

This was mainly due to strong demand for European destinations, the airport said.

Domestic traffic at Glasgow grew by 8.2 per cent with British Airways, Flybe and Loganair all reporting a strong demand for London and regional services.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, said: “2015 has got off to a tremendous start and we are continuing to enjoy significant increases in our passenger numbers as a result of our popular and growing list of destinations.”

At Edinburgh Airport, domestic passenger numbers rose by 8.7 per cent in March to 432,935.

International traffic increased by 4.7 per cent, with a total of 359,040 passengers travelling.

Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “March was a strong month for us and we saw a significant increase in the number of passengers travelling through our airport.”

Figures released by Aberdeen airport yesterday show 284,755 people flew in and out last month, a slight fall of 1.5 per cent on March 2014. But helicopter business continued its upward trend, with passenger numbers up by 3.1 per cent, and fixed-wing domestic flights attracted 0.8 per cent more people.

AIA’s bosses said a small reduction in international passengers caused the marginal drop in the overall total.

Managing director Carol Benzie added: “We have seen continued positive growth in domestic fixedwing and helicopter traffic for the month and a minor reduction in passengers travelling internationally.

“We have already had a busy start to April, with the Easter holiday break, and saw over 7,000 passengers travel through the airport over the Bank Holiday weekend”.