Rise in passengers at Hial's regional airports

Barra Airport had a 14% rise in passenger numbers

The operator of Scotland's 11 regional airports handled more than 1.4 million passengers in the 12 months to March 2015, according to its annual report.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial) runs sites in the Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland, Argyll and Dundee Airport.

Inverness was the company's busiest site with 657,661 passengers - 6% more than the previous year.

Sumburgh had an 8% increase in passenger numbers and Barra 14%.

However, Dundee's passenger numbers were down 17%.

Barra's runway is a strip of beach, which Hial said added to the appeal for tourists visiting the island.

Hial said because it was a publicly-funded company, it had historically operated at a commercial loss in order to sustain its lifeline services.

In 2014-15, the group recorded an operating loss of £442,000 compared to £3.8m on the previous year.

It said the improved performance was due to Scottish government subsidies returning to normal levels of £20.1m in 2014-15 from £14.9m in 2013-14.