Chapter 8 - Air transport

Introduction

This chapter provides information on air transport, such as passenger numbers by origin, destination and type of service, flight punctuality, amount of freight carried and air transport movements.

Key Points

• There were 21 million air passengers at Scottish airports in 2022, 206% more than in the previous year.
• 52% travelled to or from Edinburgh and 30% to or from Glasgow.
• 50 thousand tonnes of freight were carried by air in 2022.

Main Points

Passengers and Airports

There were 21 million air terminal passengers in 2022, 14 million less than in the previous year. Passenger numbers increased by 39% between 2010 and 2018 reaching a peak of 29.4 million before falling 318% to 7 million in 2021 due to the pandemic and associated travel restrictions. They have now increased by 207% to 21 million in 2022.(Table 8.1)

Edinburgh airport had 11 million terminal passengers in 2022 (272% increase) and Glasgow airport had 6.5 million, 215% more than the previous year. Aberdeen had 2.0 million, (up 82%) and Inverness had 700,000 (96% more). Together these four airports accounted for 92% of the total. Prior to the pandemic, over the past ten years trends for these airports were similar to the national picture with increases in most years. (Table 8.1)

In 2022, London Heathrow accounted for 39% of passengers on selected domestic routes to and from Aberdeen, 25% for Edinburgh and 24% for Glasgow. London Gatwick had 34% of the domestic passengers to/from Inverness. Other domestic routes with large passenger numbers included those between Edinburgh and Gatwick, Belfast, London City and Bristol, and between Glasgow and Gatwick, Belfast, Bristol and Stansted. It should be noted that the figures will include passengers who are going for connecting flights to the rest of the world, particularly London Heathrow. (Table 8.2)

Origin/destinations

The most popular country of origin/destination for passengers flying directly to and from Scottish airports was Spain (excluding the Canary Islands) with 2.2 million passenger journeys in 2022, 16% of all passengers on direct flights abroad. Other popular origins/destinations were Spain(Canary Islands) and the Irish Republic (both 1.2 million passengers), the Netherlands (1.1 million passengers) and France (0.8 million passengers). The trends for many destinations are increasing numbers of passengers, either as a result of more people travelling or more routes becoming available. (Table 8.3a and Table 8.3b)

Some countries e.g. Jamaica and the republic of Serbia are only served by charter flights, whereas all those who travelled to/from Qatar and Malta used scheduled flights. (Table 8.4)

The most popular international airports (those with the largest numbers of passenger journeys for flights directly to and from Scotland's main airports in 2022) were Amsterdam and Dublin, both with just over 1 million passengers. However, it should be noted that Amsterdam and Dublin are global hubs with extensive connections to the rest of the world. (Table 8.5)

In 2022, 4% of all terminal passenger traffic was within Scotland, 34% was to/from other parts of the UK, and 49% was between Scotland and mainland Europe. (Table 8.6)

Delays and Movements

In 2022, the overall average delay was 23 minutes for flights to or from Edinburgh airport and 18 minutes from Glasgow (the user guide section describes the basis for these figures). Around 24% of flights to or from Edinburgh 18% of flights to or from Glasgow airports were delayed by more than 30 minutes. (Table 8.8)  

The total number of aircraft movements in 2022 was 350,000. Edinburgh had the highest number of aircraft movements with 98,000, (96% of which were commercial movements), followed by Aberdeen (74,000) and Glasgow (70,000). (Table 8.9)

Air freight

Air freight carried in 2022 decreased by 5,238 tonnes (9%) over the previous year to 50,106 tonnes. (Table 8.13)

Other statistics

The Civil Aviation Authority's 2018 passenger survey found large differences between the 4 main airports. Business passengers ranged from 22% at Glasgow and Edinburgh to 47% at Aberdeen. Fifty three per cent of passengers at Aberdeen airport were for leisure, compared with 79 per cent at Glasgow. (Table 8.14)

While around 30-49% of departing passengers at each airport arrived by private car, there were marked differences in the use of other modes of transport: taxi/minicab use ranged from 5% at Inverness to 29% at Glasgow; bus/coach travellers varied from 7% at Edinburgh to 12% at Aberdeen and hire car users from 3% at Glasgow to 25% at Inverness. (Table 8.15)

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Notes

Note 1

Statistics are not collected for some of the smaller airports on Orkney and Shetland, which are therefore not included in any overall totals.

Note 2

Aircraft movements excludes both Campbeltown and Barra pre-1999.

Note 3

For 2000 and earlier years, air taxi movements were counted under domestic and International aircraft movements. From 2001, this breakdown is no longer available. They have therefore been shown separately for 2001 onwards.

Note 4

Including UK offshore flights.

Note 5

Other includes positioning flights, local movements, test and training, other flights by air transport operators, aero club, private, official, military and business

Note 6

In this table, non-paying passengers are excluded up to 2001 and included afterwards.

Note 7

Belfast includes Belfast and Belfast City airport.

Note 8

Scotland's main international airports are Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Glasgow Prestwick.

Note 9

The EU15 comprises of the countries in the European Union prior to the accession of ten candidate countries on 1 May 2004: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

Note 10

This table does not cover all international travel; charter only routes where fewer than 5,000 passengers were carried from an airport are included in table 4.

Note 11

The number of foreign airports is shown in the CAA table as the destinations of international scheduled services from Scottish airports in that year. For example, the CAA table shows Rome (Ciampino) and Rome (Fiumicino) separately (for services from Glasgow Prestwick and Edinburgh respectively, in 2003) so they are counted as two separate foreign airports.

Note 12

International scheduled services to the same foreign airport from different Scottish airports are counted as separate routes. For example, Aberdeen/Dublin, Edinburgh/Dublin, Glasgow/Dublin and Glasgow Prestwick/Dublin are counted as four separate routes. More than one airline may operate services on a particular route.

Note 13

Charter only routes are counted under Other international traffic in cases where fewer than 5,000 passengers were carried from an airport

Note 14

The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man were not included in previous editions of this table. Although they are now, they represent less than one percent of travel to other UK airports.

Note 15

Domestic traffic is counted both at the airport of arrival and at the airport of departure. The total of domestic traffic is, therefore, only a measure of airport activity.

Note 16

Statistics are not collected for some of the smaller airports on Orkney and Shetland and are therefore not included in any overall totals.

Note 17

Air transport movements which took place but for which there was no corresponding planned flight (e.g. diversions from another airport to this airport)

Note 18

Planned flights for which there was no air transport movement (e.g. flights that were cancelled or diverted to another airport). Due to changes to the collection of planned flights, this data is no longer available.

Note 19

The average delays for 2000 onwards are not comparable to the figures for 1999 and earlier years. Up to December 1999, an early flight was counted as a "negative delay"; from January 2000, an early flights is counted as "zero delay".

Note 20

The punctuality figures for Edinburgh for 2001 onwards are not comparable to the figures for 2000 and earlier years.

Note 21

Statistics are not collected for some of the smaller airports on Orkney and Shetland and these are therefore not included in any overall totals.

Note 22

The change in the figures for Glasgow and Edinburgh in 1998 was due to a company switching its parcel hub from Glasgow to Edinburgh in 1998.

Note 23

Data for these airports previously came from CAA which does not hold detailed information (passengers/freight carried) etc for charter services operated by aircraft below 15 tonnes Maximum Take Off Mass . More detailed information including on smaller aircraft has been obtained from Highland & Islands airports Ltd and the figures have been revised back to 2000.

Note 24

The figures for 1996 and earlier years may appear not to total 100% because they were rounded independently and then given only as whole percentages. The mode of transport includes cases where more than one form of transport is used.

Note 25

Terminating passengers are those who arrive at or depart from an airport by surface means of transport. Terminating passengers do not equal terminal passengers: the latter also include transfer passengers (people who change aircraft at an airport).