Highlands and Islands Air Passengers Continue to Rise
The number of people flying via airports in the north and west of Scotland increased by 12.5% in October compared to a year ago, according to figures released today by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited.

A total of 105,829 passengers used the 10 HIAL airports in the month, compared to 94,036 in October 2004. The seven month running total for the airports now stands at 718,569, 10.2% up on the same period in 2004/05.

Nine of HIAL’s airports are showing year on year growth with Islay the only exception, having handled 142 fewer passengers since 1 April 2005 compared to last year.

The fastest growing airports in the group this year are Benbecula (9.9%), Inverness (12.9%), Sumburgh (14.4%) and Tiree (25.6%).

Aircraft movements in October totalled 8,140, a 12.4% increase on 2004’s figure, while the seven-month total stands at 58.366, 14.9% up on last year.

Sumburgh’s scheduled traffic will be further boosted in 2006 following the announcement last week that Faroese operator Atlantic Airways is to fly a twice-weekly Faroes-Sumburgh-London Stansted service during the summer months. At Stornoway, Eastern Airways has confirmed the launch of an Aberdeen scheduled service in January 2006.

Inglis Lyon, HIAL’s managing director said: “We have had a good spring and summer but are now moving into the low season where passenger numbers traditionally fall back. That said, the service enhancements in terms of routes, frequency and capacity that the airlines have introduced around the region this year have made a significant difference to date. We would therefore expect to see growth continuing over the winter, albeit it at a slower pace.”