A total of 116,662 passengers travelled via the 10 airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) during the month compared to 97,660 in August 2004.

Nine of HIAL’s 10 airports recorded year on year growth during the month as a result of route development or capacity and frequency enhancements introduced on scheduled air services in the region in the past year.

The company’s five-month running total for passengers in 2005/06 now stands at 503,288, an 8.2% increase on the same period last year.

Inverness Airport handled 28.2% more passengers compared to last August as a result of new easyJet routes to Belfast and Bristol and increased capacity on Eastern Airways’ Birmingham and Manchester routes. Passengers at Kirkwall, Stornoway and Sumburgh increased by 2.5%, 10.2% and 7.7% respectively while Barra saw an 18.1% increase, Benbecula 13.6%, Islay 8.6%, Tiree 51.6% and Wick 17.1%. Campbeltown recorded a small drop in passengers during the month.

Aircraft movements at HIAL’s airports in August totalled 8,713, a 13.6% increase on August 2004, while the five-month total stands at 42,081, 15.2% up on last year.

Inglis Lyon, HIAL’s managing director said: “Our work with airlines and stakeholders to develop new air routes and improve existing services in the Highlands and Islands continues to deliver better outcomes. The passenger growth achieved demonstrates this and we expect our airports to handle more scheduled passengers this year than ever before.

“In recent months easyJet introduced direct daily services from Bristol and Belfast to Inverness while BA franchise partner Loganair has increased the frequency and capacity of flights on much of its network, including routes serving Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and Tiree. Eastern Airways now uses larger aircraft on its routes from Inverness to Birmingham and Manchester . Eastern will also launch a new direct air link between Stornoway and Aberdeen in January 2006.

“More people can now fly to and from the region for business or leisure and have greater choice in fares, timings and destinations. This is good news for the region as the ongoing development of the air network underpins the social and economic sustainability of the mainland and island communities served by our airports,” said Mr Lyon

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited – Total Passenger Movements August 2005