Small Scottish airports enjoy record growth

New figures have revealed record levels of growth for airports in the Highlands and islands of Scotland.

The number of passengers that passed through hubs in the region during the last 12 months soared by seven per cent to more than 1.23 million, according to the statistics from Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL).

It said that the rise could be attributed to an improvement in the frequency of scheduled flights, the introduction of new routes and the launch of the Scottish executive's Air Discount Scheme last year.

The largest airport in the region, at Inverness, recorded its busiest year in 2006-07 with nearly 700,000 travellers passing through its gates during the period.

HIAL chairman David Sutherland said: "The real beneficiaries of this [growth] are the people who live and work in or visit our region for business or leisure - the people who have had better access to air services in the past 12 months."

Last month, airport operator BAA announced a 3.7 per cent increase in passenger traffic across its seven airports for March.

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