Aberdeen Airport flying high in 2011
22 December 2011
Aberdeen Airport is the fastest growing airport in the UK – according to new data.
The figures come from official CAA passenger data, and are calculated when comparing percentage change on the same period last year.* It shows 9.5% growth on last year.
The latest figures were revealed by Airport MD Derek Provan, who has been speaking as the end of 2011 fast approaches, reflecting on the successes of the year.
Discussing the airport performance he highlighted some major projects, such as the runway extension, plus strong growth in passenger numbers, as contributing to what was a successful year for the wider airport community. Latest projections suggest that the airport will exceed three million passengers in 2011.
Mr Provan said: “The major project of the year was, of course, the runway extension, which came in on budget and 8 months ahead of schedule. According to a recent report the £10 million investment will contribute £20 million back into the City and Shire economy, creating 110 jobs and attract up to 30,000 tourists to the North-East, spending up to £6.4 million by 2015.
“With 2012 moving closer, one of the main aims for Aberdeen Airport next year will be to address the issue of leisure route options for our passengers. Far from sitting back and watching passengers leak to other airports, there is a team working hard behind the scenes to attract new routes. To assist with that process the airport has launched a new online holiday destination survey, to allow the people of the North-East to share their views on the destinations they would like to see from Aberdeen Airport. I encourage all of our passengers to provide us with this valuable feedback by going to www.aberdeenairport.com/survey**
“At a national level, a major issue which needs to be tackled in the immediate future is that of APD (Air Passenger Duty). We spent much of our time lobbying on this issue this year, in the hope of changing legislation to the benefit of the passengers. Air Passenger Duty in its current form will damage tourism and weaken Scotland’s competitiveness. It is growing in the UK at a time when other European countries have abandoned the tax entirely because of its damaging effects. Despite our best efforts, it would seem the government is pushing ahead with APD as originally intended. We call for the tax to be devolved to the Scottish Government where we feel any revenues raised would be pushed back into helping support the aviation industry and attract new routes.
“At a local level I would also like to see progress on the AWPR, which would bring with it major benefits for the airport, and more importantly for our passengers and visitors. I would like to see and end to the legal issues and for progress on the road to begin.
“Finally, and in summary, 2011 has been a very good year for Aberdeen Airport, but we realise that we have a challenging year ahead and we are now putting our focus into delivering a strong performance in 2012.”
*9.5% growth on same period last year (1st Jan – 30th Nov 2011) for airports above 100,000 passengers when compared to the previous year.
**The holiday destination survey will remain live until the 22nd February 2012.
