INVERNESS Airport is laying claim to being one of Scotland’s fastest growing airports and is witnessing its longest period of sustained growth in its 77-year history.
Amid reports of “outstanding” performances on international services – direct routes to Amsterdam and Dublin logged a 64 per cent rise in travellers from April to July – Inverness is on target to welcoming a record number of inward passengers estimated to be worth £75 million to the Highland and Islands economy.
It also recorded its highest monthly passenger figures of more than 93,000 since it opened in 1940 as RAF Dalcross.
Airport owner Highland and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL), is also investing heavily in improvements in Inverness.
Transport and Islands Minister, Humza Yousaf, welcomed the figures, saying: “These are very encouraging figures and further proof that Inverness Airport is continuing to go from strength to strength. There is no doubt Inverness Airport plays an important role for the local and national economies and I congratulate everyone involved for their efforts.”
HIAL managing director, Inglis Lyon, said the extra visitors passing through the airport were boosting the Highland economy. He said: “Inverness is now better connected than it has even been and this can only be good for the Highlands and Islands economy and Scotland as a whole.
“Scotland has world-class tourism destinations and many of these can be readily accessed via Inverness. We have some of the country’s best golf courses on our doorstep and the outstanding global reputation of the new North Coast 500 route means people can fly in and begin and end their journey from the Highland capital.
"Given the 23.5 per cent increase in passenger numbers in the last financial year – up to 829,018 during 2016/17 – there can be few other airport facilities in this country growing at that rate and the team at Inverness are to be commended for that achievement.”
He added: “Right now, the 2017/18 figures are on track to deliver 237,000 inbound business and leisure passengers to Inverness, which is worth a conservative £75m per annum, based on acknowledged visitor spend figures.
“The role of smaller regional airports is having an increasingly important impact on the economies of the areas they support and there is now substantial evidence that enhanced air connectivity, whether for passengers or freight, has a major impact on trade and the opportunities for local businesses.”
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