A £1.6 million expansion of aircraft parking space at the busiest airport in the North of Scotland will be officially commissioned later this week.

The project to expand Inverness Airport’s south apron by 50% was started in January this year and has created two new aircraft stands capable of accommodating aircraft of up to Boeing 737 size. The new stands will come into use on Thursday this week.

The expansion of the south apron was carried out to accommodate higher volumes of scheduled aircraft at the region’s gateway airport. It has increased existing apron capacity by 50% and will alleviate current congestion at busy times of the day. It will also enable the airport to handle more scheduled traffic with a range of aircraft types.

Inverness is the largest of 10 airports owned and operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited on behalf of the Scottish Executive.

Passenger numbers at Inverness have increased by 85% since 2000. Inverness Airport now handles more than 330 scheduled flights per week and handled a record 666,000 passengers in 2005/06. The airport is on target to handle approaching 800,000 passengers by the end of March 2007 and intends to break the one million passengers per annum mark by 2010.

The airport’s role as a major provider of business and tourism transport links means that it produces an annual economic output for the region of more than £120 million and supports more than 2,300 full-time equivalent jobs across the Highlands.

Customer airlines British Airways (BA Connect and BA franchise partner Loganair), bmi, easyJet, Eastern Airways, Aer Arann and Highland Airways serve destinations from Inverness including London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Luton, Bristol, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Dublin, Leeds Bradford, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Stornoway, Kirkwall and Sumburgh. Ryanair will start operating a daily service to Liverpool at the beginning of October.

Inverness Airport manager James Walton said: “The creation two new parking stands will both alleviate congestion during peak periods and enable us to accommodate more scheduled traffic as we develop the airport.

“We have already seen the introduction of new services to Dublin, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle this year and Ryanair will launch a daily Liverpool service in October. It is therefore important that we continue to invest in the infrastructure which will enable the airport to continue to expand its vital economic and social roles in the region in the years ahead.

“We are committed to securing new UK and international services at the airport which will support inbound tourism, inward investment and migration while offering local residents more choice in terms of destinations and fares from their home airport,” said Mr Walton.