‘Significant’ increase in passenger numbers through Highland and Island airports

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited reports significant year-on-year passenger numbers increases across its 11 regional airports.

Leading regional airport operator, Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL), has reported a 38.7% year-on-year increase in passenger numbers for 2022/23, with the figures now approaching pre-pandemic levels.

The twelve months to March 2023 saw almost 1.5 million people use the 11 regional airports in the HIAL network, which equates to 85% of the figures being recorded before the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent travel restrictions.

There were significant increases Stornoway which was up by 29% to 103,856 passengers.

Benbecula rose by 11.5% to 31,376 while Barra saw an upward lift of 9.4% to 12,928 travellers.

A massive 750,235 passengers travelled through Inverness Airport - up by 63.5%. Dundee also had a huge increase as did Islay and Campbeltown.

HIAL Managing Director, Inglis Lyon, said the increases were a testament to the work and commitment of staff across the organisation to get the airports back to the levels they were operating at before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Lyon said: “The figures highlight the vital role our people and airports play in the future sustainability and prosperity the communities we serve. They also a reflect well on the huge effort made by our airline partners to maintain service levels throughout the recovery period.

“Despite the pressures placed on business and people across the country throughout the pandemic, we have continued to invest in our facilities and to make improvements that benefit our passengers as well as the aircraft companies that serve them.

“With almost 1.5 million people passing through our 11 airports across the Highlands and Islands over the past 12 months, the economies in each of those areas will have benefited significantly from the added investment and spending they bring with them.

“Additionally, our ability to provide customers with increased opportunities to connect to the key airport hubs including Amsterdam and London means the areas we serve are better connected than ever to the major airline networks.

“We are now looking forward to what could be a strong summer season with customers again getting back to a level of confidence in travelling which will be a significant boost to those travelling to and from the Highlands.”

The total number of passengers using HIAL airports in the year 2022/23 was 1,426,391, compared to 1,028,466 in the 2021/22 financial year. In the 2019/20 financial year passenger numbers stood at 1,682,245.

‘Significant’ increase in passenger numbers through Highland and Island airports

24 April 2023