Airport on a high after busiest year
Glasgow Airport is on a real high after recording 2017 as its busiest year ever.
More than 9.9 million passengers travelled through its doors, representing an annual increase of 5.8 per cent.
New flights to Madrid, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Krakow and Valencia from RyanAir helped boost footfall at Scotland’s biggest airport.
Long-haul flights are on the up too, with a new direct Delta Air Lines route to New York-JFK, record passenger numbers on the daily double Dubai service and additional flights to Orlando.
Poor weather conditions saw demand for winter sun and Christmas markets soar at the end of the year, with more than 618,100 people travelling through the Paisley terminal in December.
Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, said:“2017 was a fantastic year for the airport.
“To carry more than 9.9 million passengers is a huge achievement and testament to the hard work put in by more than 5,000 people across the airport.
“It was also particularly pleasing that we were able to considerably increase our connectivity, particularly across Europe, by securing more than 30 routes and services during the year.
“Over the last 12 months we also made considerable improvements to the airport by investing more than £25 million on a number of successful projects including the resurfacing of the runway, increasing aircraft stand capacity and the opening of our new consolidated car rental centre.
“Phase one of the expansion project to increase our security area by 20 per cent also got underway in December and should be completed early this year.”
Mrs McMillan also acknowledged that there are challenges ahead for the airport and its staff.
“While Glasgow Airport enters 2018 in a position of strength, the wider aviation industry faces a number of challenges in the year ahead.
“These challenges will be particularly heightened by the Brexit situation, so it’s important we have clarity as early as possible on how the UK’s future relationship with the European Union will work.”