Glasgow Airport announces December 2011 and calendar year 2011 traffic figures

11 January 2012

Glasgow Airport served over 420,000 passengers in December 2011, an increase of 16.8% on the same month in 2010. This increase was mainly attributable to the impact of snow in December 2010.

Almost 6.9 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2011, an increase of 5.1% compared to the previous year. Much of this growth can be attributed to a strong and consistent demand for international travel as well the introduction of a number of new routes such as Iberia Regional’s direct service to Madrid, Eastern Airways’ Stavanger route, easyJet’s Amsterdam service and the 16 routes introduced by Jet2.com following its arrival in March 2011.

A number of other airlines including Virgin, Thomas Cook, British Airways and US Airways responded to passenger demand throughout 2011 by adding capacity on existing popular routes.

Francois Bourienne, commercial director at Glasgow Airport, said: “Despite the challenging economic climate, we experienced a renewed confidence among passengers and airlines in 2011 and we were successful in introducing new routes, including direct services to a number of major European cities.

“Expanding Glasgow Airport’s route network will remain our main focus for 2012 and we have already made a strong start to the year with the news Emirates Airline will introduce a second daily non-stop flight to Dubai, commencing 1 June 2012. Jet2.com will launch direct flights to Rome and Barcelona in March, so there is much to be excited about.

“We are under no illusion that maintaining passenger growth in 2012 will be a challenge, especially if Chancellor George Osborne proceeds with plans to increase Air Passenger Duty (APD) in April’s budget and we also have concerns about the fragility of the economy and the rising price of fuel. In spite of this, we will continue to work closely with our airline and city partners to deliver new routes and promote the in-bound tourism potential of Glasgow.”

For further information please contact:  
      
Brian McClean 
Head of Communications
Glasgow Airport 
T: 0141 848 4558 
M: 0775 4390 160 

Sharon Morrison 
Communications Manager
Glasgow Airport
T: 0141 848 4737
M: 07770 363 023