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19 Feb 04 12:54 |
Budget airline Flybe has announced that it is to double its capacity from Scotland with five additional routes.
The airline said it plans to carry more than a million passengers to and from Scotland in the coming year.
It reported that last year was its most successful in Scotland, with passenger numbers up by 50%.
Flybe said the new services are aimed at both the leisure and the business markets.
The new routes will link Glasgow and Edinburgh with Belfast and Exeter, and add a Glasgow to Southampton service to the existing route from Edinburgh to Southampton.
In total, the airline will be operating 364 flights from Scotland each week.
Across the UK, Flybe carried three million passengers in the year 2002/2003, with the figures expected to rise to 3.6 million this year.
Airline expansion
The carrier was formerly Jersey European Airways and is now based in Exeter.
Announcing the new services during a visit to Edinburgh, Flybe's managing director Jim French said: "We have big plans in Scotland.
"With Scotland now firmly integrated into Flybe's growing network, we're going to be looking at adding more routes and more capacity over time."
Recent years have seen a dramatic expansion in the number of air services from Scotland.
Scotland's busiest airport, Glasgow, now handles more than eight million passengers each year.