The end of October marks the first anniversary of seven-day scheduled passenger services at Stornoway Airport.

More than 107,000 passengers have passed through the terminal since the beginning of October 2002, an increase of 18.5% on the previous 12 months.

The impressive passenger growth at the Western Isles’ principal air hub is attributed to the performance of the scheduled links to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Benbecula offered by Loganair, bmi and Highland Airways.

Commenting on the past year at Stornoway, John Hay, Regional Manager West at HIAL, said: "At the end of October 2002 we opened the airport for seven-day scheduled services in response to demand from our airline customers. The significant passenger growth at Stornoway reflects the uptake of the additional services since then.

"We believe that the move has increased tourist traffic and enabled people to return home to the islands for a weekend and be back on the mainland in time for work on a Monday morning.

"The vast majority of feedback we have had as a result of seven-day operations has been positive and we are delighted that the airport continues to make an important social and economic contribution to the life of the islands," added Mr Hay.

ENDS