Glasgow Airport handled a record number of passengers last month, as the airport celebrated a major milestone….
Glasgow Airport handled a record number of passengers last month, as the airport celebrated a major milestone.
Figures released by airport operatorBAA Scotland show that Glasgow was Scotland`s busiest airport last month with 890,777 passengers, an increase of 4.3% on the same month last year.
In the 12 months to June, Glasgow Airport handled just under 8.7 million passengers, a rise of 5.3% on last year.
International traffic rose substantially, up 6.1%, with Prague the fastest growing destination. Flights to Barcelona, Dublin, Las Palmas and Dubai also performed well. On the domestic front, Belfast flights enjoyed the strongest growth while the launch of a new twice daily flyglobespan service to Stansted fuelled a rise in passenger numbers on the route.
Meanwhile, on 14 June, the airport recorded its 150 millionth passenger since the terminal first opened in June 1966. Then, the airport – designed by award winning architect Sir Basil Spence – handled 1.4 million passengers. Today`s terminal, though substantially larger in size, retains the distinctive barrel vault ceiling that made the original terminal such a landmark.
Glasgow Airport managing director Stephen Baxter said: International services performed strongly in June, with city breaks to Barcelona and Prague growing in popularity. This month, our busiest of the year, will see further growth in international travel as more and more people choose to fly direct from their local airport.
He added: June was an historic month for Glasgow Airport. More than 150 million people have passed through the airport since it opened less than 40 years ago. In that time, Glasgow Airport has grown from a small, but important, regional airport to one of the UK`s busiest airports, handling almost 9 million passengers a year. Within the next ten years we expect to handle in excess of 13 million passengers. The airport of 2015 will be very different to the airport we know today.
Glasgow Airport will shortly publish its Outline Master Plan, detailing the future development of the airport up to 2015 and beyond to 2030.
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