GLASGOW AIRPORT ONE OF EUROPE’S FASTEST GROWING AIRPORTS

Glasgow Airport was one of Europe’s fastest growing airports during the third quarter (Q3) of 2015 according to European airport trade body ACI Europe which has released its traffic report for September and Q3 2015 (July to September).

ACI Europe categorises airports based on passenger numbers with Glasgow Airport falling into group three - airports welcoming between 5 and 10 million passengers.

Over 2.7 million passengers travelled through Glasgow Airport during Q3 2015, representing an annual increase of 13.4% compared to the same period last year. The airport has recorded double digit percentage growth in its passenger numbers every month since November 2014.

The news follows Glasgow’s recent success at being crowned UK Airport of the Year at the National Transport Awards where it was recognised for its continued efforts in growing passenger numbers, securing new routes and its commitment to customer service.

Francois Bourienne, commercial director at Glasgow Airport, said: “We have enjoyed an exceptionally busy 2015 and our growth has been driven by providing passengers with a wider choice of destinations. We have secured 26 new routes and services during 2015 including direct flights to Prague, Budapest and Las Vegas. We will launch a number of routes before the end of the year including easyJet’s direct service to Milan, which will take off on 2 December, and the airline also announced it will add direct flights to Marseille in 2016.”

Commenting on the wider aviation trends in Europe, Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, said “Domestic consumption is now the main driver for economic growth in Europe, on the back of continued low oil prices. This is particularly the case in the Eurozone, where GDP growth is steady - although still weak. This makes for a mostly positive scenario for passenger traffic in the months ahead. However, shrinking exports remain a risk due to the weakness of emerging economies – meaning freight traffic is unlikely to improve from what has been a flat year so far.”

Q3 2015

The airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic in group three during Q3 2015 are as follows:

GROUP 3:     Gothenburg GOT (24.3%), Porto (+16.1%), Budapest (+15.1%), Glasgow (+13.4%) and Milan LIN (+11.2%)

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The 'ACI EUROPE Airport Traffic Report – September & Q3’ includes 219 airports in total representing more than 88% of European air passenger traffic.