Scottish Airport November passenger numbers near record
10.12.06
Scotland's three biggest airports enjoyed near-record passenger numbers last month, through a combination of sports fans travelling to European football ties and an increase in the number of international routes. More than 1.5 million passengers used Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, representing a 7.1 percent rise compared with the same time last year.
Edinburgh was Scotland's busiest airport in November with 663,629 passengers, a rise of 4.6 percent. International traffic soared by more than 27 percent as thousands flocked to the capital to see Scotland take on Romania, the Pacific Islands and Australia. The day before the Australia game was the busiest of the month, with 29,011 passengers.
Meanwhile, Old Firm success on the football pitch saw passenger numbers rise at Glasgow Airport by 5.7 percent to 627,961. Around 10,000 fans travelled to Lisbon in Portugal and Auxerre in France to see Celtic and Rangers in action. The day after Rangers' match against Auxerre was the busiest day of the month, with 24,937 passengers.
At Aberdeen Airport, passenger numbers grew by 17.4 percent to 278,617 thanks to several new routes from the North-east, including flights to Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford, Exeter and Tenerife.
Stephen Baxter, of BAA Scotland, said the figures showed the underlying confidence of the airline industry in Scotland. He said: 'With more than two-dozen new international services launched this year, international traffic has grown by almost 9 per cent.'
Annual passenger numbers across the three airports now stand at 20.5 million, up 2.7 percent on the same point last year.
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