The vital economic and social contribution of air services to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland were reflected in an almost 19% increase in passenger numbers during May.

Figures published today by Highlands and Islands Airports show that 107,529 passengers travelled via its 10 airports in the month compared to 90,292 in May 2005. Aircraft movements for the month totalled 8,793, a 4.3% increase on the same period last year.

A contributory factor to the growth is the recently launched Scottish Executive Air Discount Scheme which has reduced the cost of flights on qualifying routes for people living in the region’s remotest communities. Its positive impact is already being reflected in passenger growth in areas including Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and Islay.

The fastest growing airports in the region during the month were Inverness (+26%), Islay (+18%), Kirkwall (+12%), Sumburgh (+17%), Tiree (+10%) and Wick (+27%).

HIAL’s 10 airports handled a record 1,152,895 passengers in 2005/06, a 13.5% increase on the previous year and breaking the company’s former busiest year total of 1,100,609 set in 1995/96. With passenger growth for the first two months of 2006/07 running at almost 19% HIAL is on target to handle more than 1.3 million passengers by the end of March 2007.

The introduction of new air routes and enhancements to the region’s established air network continue to improve accessibility within the region and to other parts of the UK.

New routes from Inverness to Dublin, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle have already been launched this year while Ryanair will commence an Inverness – Liverpool service in October. The first ever direct scheduled air service between Shetland and London, flown by Atlantic Airways, started operating on Friday (23 June) and also provides a new link between Sumburgh Airport and the Faroes. BA franchise partner Loganair also introduced a range of scheduling and capacity improvements in its summer 2006 timetable.

Inglis Lyon, managing director of HIAL said: “Accessibility is vital to the attractiveness of our region for business, leisure, inward investment and population growth. We are a remote region but ongoing improvements to the air network are helping to offset this and also improving the quality of life for people who live and work here.

“The Air Discount Scheme is now addressing the long standing issue of the cost of flights for people living in our remotest communities and the impact is already visible as more people are now able to access air services and make better use of their time for business or social reasons.

“In recent years air services have opened up our region to a range of new destinations and have provided better onward connections to Europe and the rest of the world. The Scottish Executive’s Route Development Fund has greatly assisted this process and we continue to focus on working with our partners and airlines to deliver better air connectivity.

“Current performance shows that demand from passengers travelling into and out of the region continues to grow. It is particularly encouraging to see this growth occurring both at our large and smaller airports. Meeting and developing this market demand will play a central part in ensuring that our region remains competitive and is able to enjoy social development and economic prosperity for the long term,” said Mr Lyon.