Scottish airports report strong March passenger growth

Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports said March was a busy month

Scotland's three busiest airports have reported strong growth in passenger numbers for March.

Aberdeen International Airport led the way with a year-on-year increase of 8.2%, to record 289,193 passengers.

Edinburgh saw 730,000 passengers use the airport in March - an increase of almost 5% compared to the same period in 2013.

Glasgow reported an increase of 4.1%, with almost 532,000 people travelling through the airport.

Aberdeen saw strong growth in its fixed-wing operation, which was up by 7.4%, while helicopter passengers increased by 12.9%.

Aberdeen Airport managing director Carol Benzie said: "There are a lot of exciting things happening at the airport at the moment and the energy that these have created is palpable.

"We are pressing ahead with work on the terminal redevelopment, we have seen two new air services take off in the last month alone, and we have been working hard on further route development."

'Busy March'

Edinburgh Airport said domestic passenger numbers increased by 5.3% last month, while international passenger traffic was up 4.4%.

Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar said: "We enjoyed a busy March with good performances from domestic and international carriers.

"We also experienced our busiest departure day ever thanks to the thousands of French rugby fans leaving Edinburgh after the Six Nations."

Glasgow, where this week an Airbus A380 "super jumbo" operated by Emirates landed in Scotland for the first time, said its domestic traffic benefited from strong demand for London and regional services.

Its international passenger numbers were lifted by airlines such as KLM, Jet2.com and United, which all reported an increase in demand.

Glasgow's managing director, Amanda McMillan, said: "To be able announce further growth is extremely encouraging and rounds off what has been a historic week for Glasgow Airport and Scottish aviation.

"To have the A380 touch down on our runway was a remarkable and fitting way to celebrate 10 years of Glasgow Airport's successful partnership with Emirates which, yet again, demonstrated its commitment to Scotland."