Edinburgh Airport said it had 1,129,720 passengers in October — making it the busiest October ever at a Scottish Airport.

Edinburgh Airport, owned by Global Infrastructre Partners — which also owns Gatwick — said this is the first time it has had more than a million passengers in seven months of a year.

The headline figure represented a 12.5% increase on October 2015 with the greatest growth coming in international passengers, which grew 23.6% compared to the same month last year to reach 676,397 for the month.

Among many new international routes from the Scottish capital, Jet2 launched 11 new routes from Edinburgh in 2016 including Kefalonia, Rhodes, Larnaca, Zakynthos and Vienna, and Aer Lingus launched a Shannon service in March 2016.

Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar said: “These latest passenger figures are a direct result of the growth in passenger services offering choice of routes to and from Edinburgh.

“This growth benefits the economy of Edinburgh, the Lothians and all of Scotland.

“Unlike the majority of UK airports we have a strong balance of inbound and outbound passengers — this gives us greater confidence as we look at the opportunities and challenges ahead.

“There is however absolutely no room for complacency — and we continue to urge the Scottish Government to deliver detail on their proposed cut to Air Passenger Duty.

“A 50% cut to APD in one move will incentivise international airlines to deliver more new global routes to Scotland which will be a direct catalyst for a boom in inbound tourism — creating new jobs and stimulating the economy to the tune of £300 million Gross Value Added per year.”