Inverness Airport expects to break all passenger records for a weekend on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July through a combination of scheduled and charter flights at the Highlands’ hub airport.

The airport handled 4,400 passengers last weekend and could exceed that total this weekend as a result of easyJet’s new daily service to Bristol International Airport on Thursday. Holiday charter flights to and from Majorca, Verona and Zurich will also be handled at the weekend.

easyJet’s new Belfast service started on Friday 1 July and the low-cost carrier is also operating an extra return flight on its Luton service on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer.

The airport’s busiest summer ever means that car parking at the airport is under pressure and people planning to travel are being asked to consider making alternative arrangements for leaving their cars at the airport.

An additional 85 car parking spaces are currently under construction and will be available by the end of July. The airport currently has 550 on site paid for parking spaces.

More than 330 scheduled flights operate every week between Inverness and London (Gatwick, Heathrow and Luton), Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Northern and Western Isles.

Inverness Airport Manager, James Walton, said: “Passengers are again asked, where possible, to avoid leaving their cars at the airport over the next few weeks when the airport will be extremely busy. The additional car parking capacity will be available from the end of the month but until then we will be under pressure.

“Many passengers have already greatly assisted us by getting dropped off at the airport rather than leaving vehicles here and we thank them for their help in this matter.”

ENDS