The capital investment of circa £1.6 million to expand Inverness Airport’s south apron by 50% was approved by the Board of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited in December.

The expansion of the south apron will accommodate higher volumes of scheduled aircraft at the region’s gateway airport. It will increase existing apron capacity by 50% by creating two additional parking stands capable of accommodating aircraft up to Boeing 737 size. This will alleviate current congestion at busy times of the day and enable the airport to handle more scheduled traffic with a range of aircraft sizes in the future.

Work on site is due to start on Monday 9 January and last 23 weeks. Airport operations will continue as normal during the project.

Inverness Airport handles 320 scheduled flights per week and is on target to see a record number of passengers in 2005/06. More than 600,000 passengers will have travelled via the airport in the year ending 31 March 2006.

Customer airlines British Airways (BA CitiExpress and BA franchise partner Loganair), bmi, easyJet, Eastern Airways and Highland Airways serve destinations from Inverness including London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Luton, Bristol, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stornoway, Kirkwall and Sumburgh.

Inverness Airport manager James Walton said: “Aircraft movements at Inverness have increased by almost 16% this year and the creation of two new parking stands will both alleviate congestion during peak periods and enable us to accommodate more scheduled traffic as we develop the airport.”

HIAL’s managing director Inglis Lyon said: “This is an investment in the future of the airport which plays a vital economic and social role in the region. Its sustainable development will realise important returns for the communities and businesses in the area in the years ahead.”