Amsterdam is destination hot spot

International traffic from Scotland grew by more than 600,000 in 2006

The most popular international destination for Scots in 2006 was Amsterdam, according to BAA Scotland.

The Dutch capital beat off competition from Spain's top resorts, which took four of the top ten places.

The city airport, which is also used for connecting flights, attracted more than 500,000 passengers from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports.

New York was Scotland's most popular long haul destination, with Dubai second and Toronto in third place.

Spain was the most popular country, attracting a total of 1.1 million air passengers from Scotland.

TOP TEN DESTINATIONS 1. Amsterdam 2. Palma 3. Alicante 4. Malaga 5. Tenerife 6. New York 7. Paris 8. Faro 9. Dubai 10. Sanford

BAA Scotland said it had been a record year for Scotland's three busiest airports.

It said international traffic from Scotland had grown by more than 600,000, with new flights to Atlanta, Berlin, Helsinki, Hamburg, Gdansk and Orlando.

Its statistics also suggested that the number of passengers from Scotland flying long haul broke the million mark for the first time.

TOP TEN COUNTRIES 1. Spain 2. Netherlands 3. Ireland 4. USA 5. France 6. Germany 7. Greece 8. Portugal 9. United Arab Emirates 10. Canada

The company's divisional managing director, Stephen Baxter, said: "BAA Scotland's priority throughout 2006 has been to expand Scotland's international route network and we have had real success, with over 30 new European and long haul routes helping to bring Scotland closer to the rest of the world.

"With almost 30 new services already confirmed for 2007, our airports are set to serve an unprecedented number of worldwide destinations.

"Our approach of investing in new international routes is best for business, best for tourism and best for Scotland."