Inverness Airport prepares for busiest summer ever
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INVERNESS Airport is on course to post its busiest ever summer season after surging passenger numbers helped its owner record an 8.7 per cent rise in custom across all sites.
The airport at Dalcross handled more than 29,000 additional passengers in the first three months of the year when compared with the same period in 2014.
The huge rise helped parent body Highlands and Islands Airports (HIA) surpass the 300,000 passenger mark for its sites.
In total it handled 314,136 passengers at its 11 airports between January and March — up 25,000 on 2014’s figure.
HIA believes the large jump in passengers at Inverness is thanks to a new service to Dublin, the return of winter flights to Geneva and increased capacity on its Manchester route.
A new service from Zurich, increased capacity on the Gatwick route and strong inbound demand from the US via Dublin puts the airport on course to record its busiest ever summer this year.
Over the past 12 months, HIA has handled an additional 64,110 passengers, representing a growth rate of 4.7 per cent.
Inglis Lyon, managing director of HIA, said: "We are pleased to have started 2015 on such a high, particularly at Inverness and Wick John O’Groats, which have both enjoyed strong growth during the first quarter.
"Elsewhere, at Benbecula, Islay and Stornoway, growth was more modest but no less important for the businesses and communities that rely on those airports."
