Airports' record-breaking figures

Passenger numbers at Inverness are at a record high

The number of people using airports in the Highlands and Islands is breaking all records.

In the past 12 months a total of 1,270,023 travellers used the airports, which is an increase of 3%.

New figures reveal that the busiest airport was Inverness with 703,371 passengers using the airport.

However, Wick has reported a fall in the number of travellers passing through and is down from 32,691 to 26,428, a drop of 19.2%.

The Dundee site, which transferred to operators Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) in December 2007, recorded growth of almost 22%. It had a further 64,639 passengers in the past year.

Inglis Lyon, managing director of HIAL said: "The vital role played by air transport in our region and the commitment of airlines to enhancing services have seen passenger demand increase and our airports handle record volumes of traffic in the past year.

"Increases to frequency and capacity on routes operated by Loganair have been a significant contributory factor to the growth achieved this year, helping to make the region's remotest locations more accessible.

"At Inverness, the withdrawal of the Liverpool and Heathrow services slowed growth for the year".

'Strong performance'

He said new Flybe scheduled services this spring, and new holiday flights to Spain and Jersey this summer, would see the airport develop new traffic over the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, at Dundee, Loganair will launch Belfast and Birmingham services later this month and a new Sumburgh - Bergen service in June.

"All in all, it has been a year of strong performance across our airports and we look forward to achieving further developments with our airline partners this year," Mr Lyon.

Sumburgh Airport on Shetland saw 13.3% increase in passengers, from 145,055 to 164,390 in 2007/8.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited manages and operates 10 airports in the north and west of Scotland.

The airports range from the region's largest airports at Inverness, Kirkwall, Stornoway and Sumburgh to those at Barra, Benbecula, Campbeltown, Islay, Tiree and Wick.