Busiest May ever for Scotland’s largest airports

Solid growth in international flights helped Edinburgh and Glasgow airports to their busiest May ever last month.

Edinburgh Airport said it had 1,231,712 passengers — a 10.8% increase on May 2016.

International passenger numbers at Edinburgh rose from 662,565 in May last year to 766,094 this year — a leap of 15.6%.

Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar said: “This is the busiest May on record and shows that our passengers are responding to greater choice at Edinburgh Airport.

“We continue to work with our airline partners to offer the destinations our passengers’ want, and in May launched Pula, Rhodes and Malaga with Thomson, and Jet2.com launched Thessaloniki.”

Glasgow Airport said more than 910,000 passengers travelled through its doors in May, an increase of 10% on May 2016.

International passengers were up 16.5% and domestic passengers increased by 2%.

Glasgow Airport also said that football fan traffic gave a boost.

Ryanair’s recently launched Lisbon route performed particularly well as hundreds of Celtic fans made their way to the Portuguese capital to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the club’s 1967 European Cup win.

Managing director of Glasgow Airport Amanda McMillan said: “May was an extremely successful month which saw the launch of Delta Air Line’s inaugural New York-JFK route and new service to Bergen and the Isle of Man.

“Strengthening our EU connectivity continues to be an area of focus, so Lufthansa’s recent decision to expand its current seasonal weekly service to four flights per week all year round was extremely welcome news.

“In addition to making it easier for tourists from one of our biggest international markets to visit Glasgow, the expansion of this route will play an important role in strengthening Scotland’s connectivity by providing passengers with access to major markets worldwide through Lufthansa’s Munich hub.

“As we look ahead this month the airport is gearing up for what is set to be our busiest June on record as the school term comes to an end and tens of thousands of families pass through our doors to head off on their holidays.”