Chapter 8: Air Transport in Scotland

Chapter 8: Air Transport in Scotland

Air Transport

1. Introduction

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

Key Points

• There were 29.4 million air passengers at Scottish airports in 2018
• Three quarters travel to or from Edinburgh or Glasgow.
• 62 thousand tonnes of freight were carried by air in 2018.

2. Main Points

Passengers and Airports

2.1 There were 29.4 million air terminal passengers in 2018, 0.6 million (2.1%) more than in the previous year. Passenger numbers increased by 39% between 2001 and 2007 reaching a peak of 25.1 million  before falling 17% to 20.9 million in 2010, since when they have risen 41 per cent. (Table 8.1)

2.2 Edinburgh airport had 14.3 million terminal passengers in 2018 (7% increase) and Glasgow airport had 9.7 million, 2% less than the previous year.  Aberdeen had 3.1 million, (down 1%) and Inverness had 0.9 million (2% more).  Together these four airports accounted for 95% of the total.  Over the past ten years, trends for these airports were similar to the national picture, except for Edinburgh which saw a levelling off in numbers after 2007 rather than a fall. (Table 8.1)

2.3 In 2018, London Heathrow accounted for 39% of passengers on selected domestic routes to and from Aberdeen, 23% for Edinburgh and 23% for Glasgow. London Gatwick had 36% of the domestic passengers to/from Inverness. Other domestic routes with large passenger numbers included those between Edinburgh and Gatwick, Stansted, Belfast and London City, and between Glasgow and Gatwick, Stansted, Belfast and Bristol. It should be noted that the figures will include passengers who are going for connecting flights to the rest of the world. (Table 8.2)

Origin/destinations

2.4 The most popular country of origin/destination for passengers flying directly to and from Scottish airports was Spain (excluding the Canary Islands) with 2.8 million passenger journeys in 2018, 17% of all passengers on direct flights abroad.  Other popular origins/destinations were the Netherlands (1.4 million passengers), the Irish Republic (1.3 million passengers) and Germany (1.2 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)

2.5 Some countries e.g. Cape Verde Islands and Israel are only served by charter flights, whereas all those who travelled to/from Canada or the Qatar used scheduled flights.  (Table 8.4)

2.6 The most popular international airports (those with the largest numbers of passenger journeys for flights directly to and from Scotland's main airports in 2018) were Amsterdam with 1.4 million passengers and Dublin with 1.2 million passengers.  (Table 8.5)

2.7 In 2018, 5% of all terminal passenger traffic was within Scotland, 39% was to/from other parts of the UK, and 44% was between Scotland and mainland Europe. (Table 8.6)

Delays and Movements

2.8 In 2018, the overall average delay was 15 minutes for flights to or from Edinburgh and 14 minutes to or from Glasgow airports (the Notes and Definitions section, page 225 describes the basis for these figures).  Around 13% of flights to or from both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports were delayed by more than 30 minutes. (Table 8.8) 

2.9 The total number of aircraft movements in 2018 was 481,000.  Edinburgh had the highest number of aircraft movements with 130,000, (97% of which were commercial movements), followed by Glasgow (97,000) and Aberdeen (91,000).  (Table 8.9)

Air freight

2.10 Air freight carried in 2018 increased by 2,045 tonnes (3%) over the previous year to 62,308 tonnes. (Table 8.13)

Other statistics

2.11 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)

2.12  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)

 

Table 8.1: Summary of air transport  

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Passengers											thousand
Terminal	24,348	22,496	20,907	22,065	22,207	23,250	24,076	25,507	26,924	28,833	29,443
Transit	85	43	50	46	29	25	27	26	21	21	23
Total	24,433	22,539	20,957	22,111	22,236	23,275	24,103	25,533	26,945	28,854	29,466
Terminal passengers1
by airport
											thousand
Aberdeen	3,290	2,984	2,763	3,083	3,329	3,440	3,723	3,469	2,955	3,090	3,056
Barra	11	10	10	10	11	9	11	11	13	15	15
Benbecula	34	33	30	34	31	31	31	32	32	33	35
Campbeltown	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	9	8
Dundee	61	72	70	62	55	28	22	22	38	21	21
Edinburgh	8,992	9,043	8,594	9,384	9,194	9,775	10,159	11,113	12,348	13,409	14,292
Glasgow	8,135	7,213	6,522	6,858	7,150	7,358	7,709	8,710	9,324	9,895	9,653
Glasgow Prestwick	2,414	1,817	1,660	1,296	1,067	1,145	912	610	672	696	681
Inverness	671	583	528	579	602	607	611	668	782	874	893
Islay	29	26	25	26	21	26	27	29	28	32	33
Kirkwall	138	138	129	134	132	150	151	150	153	164	170
Lerwick (Tingwall)	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4
Scatsta	243	270	279	288	304	298	280	254	162	171	175
Stornoway	131	122	112	122	116	120	127	125	124	132	133
Sumburgh	154	139	139	143	149	210	263	270	249	256	246
Tiree	8	8	8	8	7	8	9	10	11	12	12
Unst	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wick John O'Groats	23	21	22	24	25	33	28	24	20	18	17
											tonnes
Freight	50,228	50,886	47,532	45,162	52,200	54,225	59,878	56,441	55,880	60,263	62,308
Aircraft movements 2
Air transport											thousand
Domestic 3	247	225	206	206	204	201	202	207	197	210	205
International 3,4	139	129	124	135	138	145	146	142	146	151	154
Air taxi 3	31	28	24	26	29	30	28	30	33	23	18
Other movements 5	126	108	102	100	107	104	107	101	105	111	104
Total	543	490	457	467	478	480	483	480	481	495	481

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

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

2. 'Aircraft movements' excludes both Campbeltown and Barra pre-1999 (see table 8.11). 

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.

4. Including UK offshore flights.

Table 8.2: Passengers on selected domestic routes, to/from certain Scottish airports ¹ 

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
											thousands
Aberdeen
Glasgow	0.1	-	-	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	-	0.1	0.3	-
Kirkwall	44.4	39.5	38.6	41.5	47.2	48.6	49.1	48.2	35.7	54.9	57.6
Scatsta	130.8	145.1	151.4	154.1	168.1	165.7	159.9	142.7	75.1	94.6	94.1
Stornoway	7.1	6.4	6.3	6.0	5.6	5.5	6.2	5.5	3.6	4.8	6
Sumburgh	74.9	63.8	63.5	69.1	75.2	115.3	150.7	143.7	107.4	155.5	140.7
Wick John O'Groats	16.6	14.5	14.7	14.8	14.6	13.9	14.4	12.8	5.7	6.9	7.8
Gatwick	148.0	135.5	129.9	177.8	233.9	173.2	161.8	163.2	143.7	156.4	150.1
Heathrow	656.0	641.3	617.7	652.5	663.8	712.2	776.9	726.7	592.7	622	675.8
London City	-	-	-	-	15.8	73.2	72.0	63.3	64.5	54.4	42.2
Luton	139.4	126.9	129.0	147.7	120	82.8	74.5	71.3	72.1	75.1	72.6
Belfast2	25.4	24.2	19.0	18.9	21.5	30.2	37.5	40	43.3	42.8	41.9
Birmingham	146.5	111.1	89.9	83.0	87.3	96.8	125.1	115.8	129.6	131.1	112.6
Bristol	26.9	23.2	22.7	32.8	32.9	34.9	31.8	26.4	21.6	16.7	13.2
Cardiff Wales	-	6.9	0.5	10.5	14.1	13.2	12.9	10.6	5.6	8.4	6.8
Durham Tees valley	33.2	31.9	29.9	31.3	33.4	32.7	35	28.2	13.2	17.5	21.5
East Midlands	20.8	19.5	18.1	18.9	19.8	18.4	16.7	15.5	5.4	-	-
Exeter	17.6	28.1	30.1	22.4	4.8	-	-	-	-	0.1	-
Humberside	33.7	32.0	27.1	30.2	32.2	34.2	36.6	30.1	18.2	23.6	23.1
Leeds/Bradford	21.6	15.5	8.1	0.5	0.6	12.3	7.0	9.2	3.6	5.1	2.2
Manchester	132.3	104.6	93.1	144.5	180.7	203.3	226.1	202.6	202.4	208.1	218.6
Newcastle	22.4	18.5	26.4	24.8	24.9	30.8	30.2	20.8	8.9	11.4	10.9
Norwich	65.8	60.9	60.0	61.7	64.6	63.8	60.2	50.6	42.4	45.4	41.9
Southampton	55.5	45.2	27.9	22.6	16.3	9.5	14.0	13.9	6.7	14.2	7.7
Total these routes	1,819.0	1,694.6	1,603.9	1,765.8	1,877.4	1,970.6	2,098.7	1,941.1	1,601.5	1,749.3	1,747.3
Channel Islands	2.4	2.0	2.2	2.1	2.3	2.2	13.0	17.9	2.4	2.8	2.5
Edinburgh
Inverness	7.5	0.9	1.0	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	0.2	-
Kirkwall	35.7	39.1	35.6	36.5	40.0	43.5	45.4	44.5	45.8	45.9	46.2
Stornoway	28.3	31.8	21.9	21.7	19.9	19.3	20.5	20.6	20.6	16.9	17.9
Sumburgh	30.8	32.9	32.4	35.6	36.9	39.9	45	44.8	43.5	47.1	47.6
Wick John O'Groats	7.3	7.6	7.8	9.1	9.6	11.4	11.7	11.1	11.6	11.1	9.3
Gatwick	704.9	647.9	604.1	669.1	696.8	693.7	690.4	672.9	700.1	737.3	740.9
Heathrow	1,319.0	1,306.1	1,244.8	1,271.5	1,255.0	1,355.9	1,472.8	1,383.9	1,053.4	1,179.8	1,198.8
London City	371.5	326.6	334.7	344.9	322.7	333.9	352.3	532.9	528	484.9	497
Luton	359.5	315.6	242.1	259.4	269.8	273.5	259.7	266.6	272.5	309.1	315.1
Stansted	401.9	373.7	329.9	390.4	346.4	326.6	360.3	622.2	836.9	720.3	732
Belfast2	363.4	351.5	331.2	351.9	361.5	372.8	377.9	400.8	439.9	456.9	479.4
Birmingham	401.1	336.2	288.0	289.0	285.9	284.2	284	277.9	267.3	255.1	267.7
Bournemouth	19.3	88.4	17.7	-	0.2	0.1	-	0.3	0.1	-	0.1
Bristol	249.8	235.2	227.0	286.6	295.5	305.2	322.8	352	381.9	393.9	400
Cardiff Wales	162.6	161.0	111.5	83.6	77.7	77.0	57.6	69.2	94.3	99.4	102.1
City of Derry	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13.4
East Midlands	164.1	130.2	108.7	109.8	72.7	86.7	92.7	95.3	93.7	92.9	93.2
Exeter	68.0	61.1	53.8	51.4	40.2	36.5	38.3	45.1	45.2	47.6	48.1
Leeds/Bradford	36.5	19.0	13.0	9.8	2.2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Liverpool	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15.9	-	0.2
Manchester	228.6	158.3	126.7	119.6	108.3	118.5	109.3	114.1	102.3	117.4	117
Manston (Kent Int)	-	-	17.6	26.5	3.4	-	-	-	-	-	-
Newquay	17.9	12.2	13.1	13.7	9.9	4.5	2.3	2.4	2.7	5	4.4
Norwich	58.6	50.4	47.8	46.4	39.7	24.7	28.5	29.3	25.8	28.6	29.8
Southampton	205.1	191.5	194.0	203.6	204.5	207.6	203.2	194.1	198.5	208.1	183.2
Southend	-	-	-	-	-	39.1	23.7	-	-	0.7	0.1
Total these routes	5,241.4	4,877.2	4,404.4	4,630.1	4,498.8	4,615.5	4,774.7	5,180.0	5,180.1	5,020.8	5,130.4
Channel Islands	28.7	23.2	18.3	14.6	11.1	9.2	3.2	6.4	7.0	5.5	20.3
Isle of Man	13.0	11.5	11.4	11.6	10.8	4.2	-	-	-	3.5	6.2

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1.  In this table only, non-paying passengers are excluded up to 2001 but included from then on. In addition, this table excludes some of the smaller domestic routes.

Note also that passengers between the four main cities will be counted twice (e.g. flights between Aberdeen and Edinburgh will appear in both the 'Aberdeen' and the 'Edinburgh' sections).

2.  Belfast includes Belfast and Belfast City airport.

Table 8.2 (continued): Passengers on selected domestic routes, to/from certain Scottish airports¹ 

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Glasgow
Barra	9.1	8.7	8.6	8.4	9	9.1	10.5	10.7	12.8	14.9	14.7
Benbecula	25.2	24.7	21.9	22.6	19.7	21.8	23	23.5	24.2	24.1	26.1
Campbeltown	9.1	9.3	8.7	9.2	8.6	9.3	9.3	8.2	8.4	8.6	8.4
Inverness	0.1	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	-	0.5	0.2	0.2
Islay	29.3	26	25	26	25.1	25.6	27.2	28.7	22.3	32.6	32.8
Kirkwall	15.1	15.4	14.9	15.3	15.1	17.6	17.3	17.4	16.0	19.6	22.5
Stornoway	58.1	53.7	51.0	55.1	55.6	57.5	61.9	62.4	55.4	75	75.9
Sumburgh	17.2	17.4	16.8	17.9	18.0	20.1	24.5	28.6	24.5	33	29.2
Tiree	7.9	7.3	7.2	7.8	7.9	7.6	8	8.7	8.3	11.3	11.7
Gatwick	521.9	514.7	488.8	565.8	607.4	606.3	613.3	612.5	608.6	618.7	620.4
Heathrow	1,143.5	1,080.0	1,003.3	820.9	828.5	870.0	871.0	907.9	893.8	909.1	911.2
London City	112.7	114.9	111.1	149.4	158.2	175.4	207.9	238.4	235.1	231.1	230.2
Luton	352.4	326.0	247.7	274.6	276.5	280.7	270.2	215.1	214.7	234.8	243.7
Stansted	358.6	305.1	301.8	342.8	331.6	308.7	304.2	533.3	652.4	527.1	432.3
Belfast2	324.2	323.9	308.2	352.8	367.0	370.1	384.6	421.5	452.2	424.6	440.3
Birmingham	337.1	269.4	212.6	211.9	208.1	203.5	229.4	226.7	226.7	221.7	234.5
Bristol	220.2	212.3	201.2	222.2	239.7	257.4	245.3	267.2	297.3	307	312.1
Cardiff Wales	84.0	56.4	52.4	47.2	39.8	48.2	27.9	18.1	37.7	28.9	33.3
City of Derry	9.4	-	-	-	-	-	13.3	76	80.7	85	64.7
East Midlands	150.9	115.0	99.7	103.4	70.7	85.5	91.9	95	109.5	102.7	97.1
Exeter	39.4	33.4	26.5	24.4	25.6	23.8	20.7	3.1	32.8	38.8	39.9
Leeds/Bradford	30.4	19.9	14.6	13.2	11.9	10.0	9.8	8.3	7	7	-
Manchester	151.8	100.4	68.3	49.4	50.0	52	68.3	45.4	42.5	51.2	62.5
Newquay	2	0.3	0.2	0.9	3.6	1.8	-	-	2.3	3.1	2
Plymouth	17.2	24.4	23.3	13.6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Southampton	161.6	156.3	143.4	139.6	173.6	182.6	173	158.3	179.4	197.8	186.3
Southend	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	42
Total these routes	4,144.6	3,772.4	3,417.8	3,453.7	3,513.9	3,604.4	3,669.8	3,972.6	4,160.9	4,107.9	4,027.3
Channel Islands	5.6	5.4	9.2	17.0	28.3	36.4	34.1	34.7	40.7	56.1	55.7
Isle of Man	16.7	13.8	11.0	11.0	11.1	4.0	7.5	9.9	8.0	5.5	2
Glasgow Prestwick
Stansted	402.7	278.3	224.6	88.5	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	-
Belfast City	86.3	91.7	61.2	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.2	-
Bournemouth	129.0	34.3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cardiff Wales	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	-
City of Derry	64.0	51.3	55.0	70.6	72.8	69.5	52.1	-	-	-	-
Total these routes	682.0	455.6	340.8	159.1	72.8	69.5	52.1	-	-	0.4	-
Channel Islands	-	-	1.4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isle of Man	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	-
Inverness
Benbecula	0	0	0	0	0	0.7	1.4	2.1	-	-	-
Kirkwall	25.1	24.8	23.1	21.7	16.8	19.2	19.1	19.9	19.2	23.7	22.6
Stornoway	35.6	33.1	29.8	36.4	36.2	32.9	29.1	27.1	31.2	29.2	27.6
Sumburgh	0.2	-	-	1.5	4.2	3.3	3.4	3.7	3.5	1.0	0.1
Gatwick	243.2	224.9	206.8	222.7	230.4	219.3	192.9	207.1	237.9	263.4	262.2
Heathrow	7.9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	57.9	79.1	97.6
London City	-	-	-	-	-	-	7.6	4.9	-	-	-
Luton	102.5	86.6	90.3	99.6	88.8	91.8	89.6	93.5	133.9	136.4	147.2
Stansted	-	-	-	0.2	0.1	-	-	-	0.1	0.4	0.1
Belfast2	22.6	19.3	16.8	21.5	23.6	23.3	27.2	29.2	30.3	33.2	36
Birmingham	24.9	30.3	30.4	30.3	33.0	34.8	41.2	41.4	42.5	44.1	45.1
Bristol	74.0	73.3	69.2	75.4	78.1	81.2	77.6	82.4	87.7	96.7	92.8
East Midlands Int	40.2	20.4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.1
Manchester	42.9	50.5	46.4	49.2	51.0	55.8	70.5	84.5	68.2	65.6	56.7
Southhampton	14.9	3.9	2.4	2.1	1.8	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total these routes	634.0	567.1	515.2	560.6	564.0	561.6	558.2	593.7	658.5	718.9	737.8
Channel Islands	0.9	1.2	1.3	1.8	1.6	1.7	1.8	2.1	1.9	2.0	1.8

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1.  In this table only, non-paying passengers are excluded up to 2001 but included from then on. In addition, this table excludes some of the smaller domestic routes. 

Note also that passengers between the four main cities will be counted twice (e.g. flights between Aberdeen and Edinburgh will appear in both the 'Aberdeen' and the 'Edinburgh' sections).

2.  Belfast includes Belfast and Belfast City airport.

 

Figure 8.1: Terminal air passenger traffic, 2008 and 2018.

Terminal Air Passenger Traffic 2008 and 2018

Table 8.3 (a): International air passenger traffic to and from the main Scottish international airports¹

Regional Area / Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
EU 28 countries (Excl UK)											thousand
Austria	21.7	28.9	24.9	28.2	28.3	28.6	29.9	29.0	79.6	89.7	95.2
Belgium	121.0	113.3	134.0	110.6	115.6	153.7	153.0	172.2	194.8	216.5	239.9
Bulgaria	63.1	48.4	45.2	45.6	46.8	46.1	39.3	39.3	49.6	73.6	91.1
Croatia 3	12.9	24.3	11.6	7.1	12.9	31.6	42.0	56.3	62.2	109.7	102.7
Cyprus	152.8	139.4	95.9	148.7	152.9	119.6	112.4	134.3	162.4	175.4	181.5
Czech Republic	63.4	47.5	44.6	47.9	48.0	89.6	79.0	96.3	97.9	124.6	181.4
Denmark	147.2	178.1	175.8	178.2	188.6	220.3	187.0	254.0	298.3	266.5	279.2
Estonia	-	-	-	29.1	-	-	-	0.2	0.1	-	6.6
Finland	5.7	3.5	34.6	37.4	32.1	3.7	4.5	4.8	32.1	39.9	54.9
France	859.4	862.1	790.7	787.5	808.3	806.7	727.2	725.7	861.7	909.6	987.5
Germany	641.7	663.7	660.3	682.0	698.7	761.2	823.5	852.6	1,009.8	1,127.6	1,196.8
Greece	161.6	158.9	153.8	163.7	212.9	193.0	270.3	258.6	277.2	335.2	370.1
Hungary	33.1	30.2	19.6	24.4	36.5	37.9	37.1	60.6	86.9	94.1	131.5
Irish Republic	1,186.3	1,015.9	849.4	852.8	816.6	843.9	950.8	1,102.3	1,239.0	1,296.6	1,313.5
Italy	348.1	401.8	359.2	342.3	384.3	396.9	375.4	398.7	584.9	684.2	753.2
Latvia	31.5	36.5	47.2	46.5	20.2	31.9	38.5	20.3	29.5	43.5	37.3
Lithuania	6.0	-	28.3	32.3	29.0	24.8	21.3	29.8	36.2	42.4	37.4
Luxembourg	-	-	-	-	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.5	0.8	0.1
Malta	37.9	45.6	52.7	71.2	57.5	61.5	67.1	74.8	84.8	96.3	114.7
Netherlands	1,078.8	987.2	1,006.9	1,135.0	1,223.3	1,244.6	1,323.5	1,353.4	1,368.7	1,409.3	1,438.7
Poland	384.3	374.2	328.0	326.9	341.3	431.4	355.7	489.7	589.8	625.2	611.8
Portugal (excl Madeira)	266.0	207.5	212.4	280.0	273.9	298.3	294.8	306.5	346.0	436.1	440.8
Portugal (Madeira)	36.1	34.4	21.7	23.1	22.8	21.3	29.3	53.4	55.7	52.5	36.0
Romania	-	3.0	-	-	-	-	0.4	1.9	58.2	70.8	44.5
Slovak Republic	6.6	50.3	49.9	44.2	33.6	32.1	23.1	23.6	30.9	39.3	38.0
Slovenia	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.9	-	-	0.3	-	0.4	1.1	0.6
Spain (excl Canary Isles)	1,908.4	1,679.7	1,483.7	1,726.8	1,746.8	1,929.4	1,874.3	1,987.3	2,351.0	2,818.9	2,769.0
Spain (Canary Islands)	795.6	666.0	658.1	838.3	816.6	849.5	934.1	933.1	1,145.0	1,336.2	1,268.3
Sweden	149.5	159.3	131.9	137.4	128.2	112.6	83.5	105.7	107.8	136.6	164.4
Total EU28 countries (Excl UK)	8,518.8	7,959.8	7,420.7	8,148.2	8,275.7	8,770.4	8,877.3	9,564.2	11,241.1	12,652.3	12,986.7
Total EU15 countries2	7,727.1	7,160.3	6,697.4	7,323.5	7,497.1	7,863.9	8,061.0	8,537.2	9,952.0	11,156.2	11,407.7
Other identified countries
Azerbaijan	-	-	-	4.1	5.8	-	-	0.2	-	-	-
Barbados	7.1	8.0	8.4	7.6	6.0	5.2	6.4	7.3	5.1	7.8	8.1
Canada	160.0	107.5	103.3	112.4	117.8	106.1	112.3	148.4	166.6	168.0	182.0
Cape Verde Islands	-	-	-	13.4	22.0	0.2	-	-	3.3	20.8	16.0
China	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19.3
Cuba	-	-	0.8	1.3	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.9	2.9	0.6	0.6
Dominican Republic	22.8	25.5	23.1	16.8	0.7	-	6.1	-	-	-	0.2
Egypt	67.5	97.9	97.8	72.9	66.3	67.0	46.8	44.9	-	3.6	8.1
Faroe Islands	0.7	0.5	1.1	0.9	0.6	1.5	1.4	8.6	11.0	12.7	15.5
Greenland	-	-	4.1	8.7	-	0.2	-	-	-	-	-
Iceland	30.8	9.7	25.0	33.2	42.6	72.8	97.0	112.6	172.0	227.6	213.3
Jamaica	-	2.3	0.5	0.9	-	-	0.2	1.3	0.8	3.0	4.6
Mexico	22.1	22.9	28.6	35.3	33.2	30.5	29.2	37.1	38.7	39.5	48.3
Morocco	-	-	19.7	25.2	0.2	0.2	5.4	30.9	15.8	-	-
Norway	305.2	302.1	281.2	309.4	337.4	339.9	352.8	320.5	288.1	271.6	293.1
Pakistan	18.4	25.5	26.3	1.9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Qatar	-	-	-	-	-	-	54.0	115.5	134.0	133.3	140.7
Russia	-	0.8	0.7	-	0.7	0.8	-	0.1	0.1	-	1.0
Switzerland	155.5	148.2	154.9	215.4	236.5	241.1	266.0	276.9	281.8	350.1	353.7
Tunisia	34.0	38.9	66.3	21.6	32.7	61.4	67.7	35.2	-	-	14.4
Turkey	260.4	268.6	329.3	328.0	316.0	351.7	404.0	425.7	319.1	257.3	369.4
United Arab Emirates	240.7	244.7	268.5	275.0	314.7	402.3	424.6	502.4	555.7	585.7	580.6
United States of America	483.5	459.7	366.1	411.3	367.7	367.0	446.8	489.1	524.8	676.0	681.5
Total these countries	1,808.7	1,762.8	1,805.5	1,895.3	1,901.6	2,048.4	2,321.3	2,557.5	2,519.7	2,757.7	2,950.7
All identified countries for these airports	10,327.5	9,722.6	9,226.2	10,043.5	10,177.3	10,818.7	11,198.7	12,121.7	13,760.8	15,409.9	15,937.3

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1. For the purpose of preparing this table, Scotland's main international airports are Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Glasgow Prestwick. This table does not cover all international traffic, as indicated by the lower part of table 8.4.

2. The EU15 was the number of member countries in the European Union prior to the accession of ten candidate countries on 1 May 2004.
The EU15 comprised the following 15 countries:

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. 

3. Croatia joined the EU in 2013.

Table 8.3(b): Scheduled international passenger traffic to/from the main Scottish international airports¹

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Foreign airports served 2	95	103	100	101	107	113	110	120	137	152	159
Routes 3	150	168	145	146	154	167	176	185	219	252	259
											thousand
Passengers on  scheduled services	8,153.4	8,054.5	7,390.8	8,172.6	8,396.7	9,240.5	9,824.0	10,805.1	12,605.2	14,244.5	15,155.6

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1.  These figures are produced from the information about scheduled services in the Civil Aviation Authority's UK Airport Statistics Table 12.1, so are based on its conventions and definitions.

 For the purpose of this table, Scotland's main international airports are Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Glasgow Prestwick. This table does not cover all scheduled international traffic.

2.  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.

3.  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. 

 

Table 8.4: Passenger traffic on selected international routes, to and from Scotland's main airports ¹, 2018

	Scheduled	Charter	Total
Albania	-	218	218
Armenia	-	100	100
Austria	71,088	24,110	95,198
Barbados	-	8,100	8,100
Belgium	239,476	406	239,882
Bosnia-Herzegovina	-	-	-
Bulgaria	54,959	36,117	91,076
Canada	182,040	-	182,040
Cape Verde Islands	-	16,030	16,030
China	19,329	-	19,329
Croatia	85,545	17,112	102,657
Cuba	640	-	640
Cyprus	130,340	51,157	181,497
Czech Republic	181,205	181	181,386
Denmark	278,329	836	279,165
Dominican Republic	-	214	214
Estonia	6,528	88	6,616
Egypt	8,031	89	8,120
Faroe Islands	14,749	776	15,525
Finland	48,054	6,829	54,883
France	959,060	28,485	987,545
Georgia	-	95	95
Germany	1,193,093	3,729	1,196,822
Greece	314,598	55,509	370,107
Hungary	131,256	204	131,460
Iceland	212,584	675	213,259
Irish Republic	1,310,708	2,766	1,313,474
Israel	-	3,692	3,692
Italy	708,169	45,055	753,224
Jamaica	-	4,615	4,615
Jordan	-	23	23
Kazakhstan	-	-	-
Latvia	37,340	-	37,340
Lithuania	37,313	122	37,435
Luxembourg	-	50	50
Malta	114,651	-	114,651
Macedonia	-	188	188
Mexico	25,301	23,003	48,304
Netherlands	1,437,979	762	1,438,741
Norway	290,230	2,865	293,095
Poland	609,953	1,875	611,828
Portugal (Excluding Madeira)	437,106	3,720	440,826
Portugal (Madeira)	35,984	-	35,984
Qatar	140,727	-	140,727
Republic Of Korea	-	320	320
Romania	44,484	-	44,484
Russia	-	989	989
Slovak Republic	35,903	2,115	38,018
Slovenia	-	582	582
Spain	2,563,617	205,393	2,769,010
Spain (Canary Islands)	1,098,416	169,908	1,268,324
Sweden	164,043	375	164,418
Switzerland	347,417	6,326	353,743
Tunisia	14,427	-	14,427
Turkey	335,102	34,270	369,372
United Arab Emirates	579,948	630	580,578
United States of America	655,876	25,672	681,548
Total passenger traffic counted for these  countries for Scotland's main airports 2	15,155,598	786,058	15,941,656
Other international traffic at main Scottish airports 2	..	..	318
All international traffic for Scotland's main airports	..	..	15,941,974
International traffic at other Scottish airports	..	..	98,783
Total International traffic at all Scottish airports	..	..	16,040,757

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1. For the purpose of preparing this table, Scotland's main international airports are Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Glasgow Prestwick.

2. Charter only routes are counted under 'Other international traffic' in cases where fewer than 5,000 passengers were carried from an airport to a particular country.

Table 8.5: The 10 international airports with the largest numbers of passenger journeys for flights directly to and from Scotland's main airports ¹ , 2018

	Scheduled	Charter	Total
Amsterdam	1,388,257	193	1,388,450
Dublin	1,169,380	2,400	1,171,780
Paris (Charles De Gaulle)	612,850	3,049	615,899
Alicante	597,387	18,397	615,784
Tenerife (Surreina Sofia)	509,336	98,450	607,786
Malaga	489,749	20,617	510,366
Dubai	495,602	630	496,232
Palma De Mallorca	388,065	104,749	492,814
Frankfurt Main	325,921	520	326,441
Faro	321,228	3,587	324,815

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1. For the purpose of preparing this table, Scotland's main international airports are Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Glasgow Prestwick.

Table 8.6: Terminal passenger traffic by origin/destination, 2018

	Other Scottish Airports	Other UKAirports 1	UK offshore	Eire	Europe	North America	Rest of world	Total
Aberdeen	306,302	1,445,604	381,492	49,903	874,437	-	-	3,057,738
Barra	14,706	-	-	-	-	-	-	14,706
Benbecula	35,404	-	-	-	-	-	-	35,404
Campbeltown	8,472	-	-	-	-	-	-	8,472
Dundee	21	20,566	-	-	-	-	-	20,587
Eday	523	-	-	-	-	-	-	523
Edinburgh	121,318	5,249,246	-	735,374	7,428,417	466,192	290,755	14,291,302
Fair Isle	2,921	-	-	-	-	-	-	2,921
Foula	1,176	-	-	-	-	-	-	1,176
Glasgow	221,892	4,010,938	-	528,197	3,938,800	397,396	553,734	9,650,957
Inverness	50,620	739,682	-	12,881	84,125	-	-	887,308
Islay	33,019	364	-	-	-	-	-	33,383
Kirkwall	180,163	1,097	19	-	410	-	-	181,689
Lerwick (Tingwall)	3,880	1	-	-	-	-	-	3,881
North Ronaldsay	5,953	-	-	-	-	-	-	5,953
Oban	677	-	-	-	-	-	-	677
Papa Stour	30	-	-	-	-	-	-	30
Papa Westray	4,885	-	-	-	-	-	-	4,885
Glasgow Prestwick	420	318	-	-	678,139	-	630	679,507
Sanday	2,994	-	-	-	-	-	-	2,994
Scatsta	94,066	-	81,575	-	-	-	-	175,641
Stornoway	136,665	778	-	-	-	-	-	137,443
Stronsay	3,527	-	-	-	-	-	-	3,527
Sumburgh	227,251	802	24,110	-	1,367	-	-	253,530
Tiree	12,265	489	-	-	-	-	-	12,754
Westray	3,542	-	-	-	-	-	-	3,542
Wick John O'Groats	17,116	-	-	-	-	-	-	17,116
Total	1,489,808	11,469,885	487,196	1,326,355	13,005,695	863,588	845,119	29,487,646

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1. 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. 

Table 8.7: Terminal air passengers by airport, international/domestic and type of service, 2018

Airport	International/UK Offshore			Domestic 1			Total
	Scheduled	Charter	Total	Scheduled	Charter	Total
Aberdeen	819,668	486,093	1,305,761	1,614,144	136,090	1,750,234	3,055,995
Barra	.	.	.	14,706	-	14,706	14,706
Benbecula	.	.	.	35,404	-	35,404	35,404
Campbeltown	.	.	.	8,472	-	8,472	8,472
Dundee	-	562	562	20,478	145	20,623	21,185
Edinburgh	8,676,426	243,058	8,919,484	5,370,506	1,819	5,372,325	14,291,809
Glasgow	4,981,880	434,364	5,416,244	4,234,119	2,153	4,236,272	9,652,516
Glasgow Prestwick	676,652	3,575	680,227	-	731	731	680,958
Inverness	97,090	5,011	102,101	789,720	1,150	790,870	892,971
Islay	.	.	.	32,508	-	32,508	32,508
Kirkwall	410	103	513	168,761	409	169,170	169,683
Lerwick (Tingwall)	.	.	.	3,881	-	3,881	3,881
Scatsta	-	81,575	81,575	-	93,306	93,306	174,881
Stornoway	-	8	8	133,309	58	133,367	133,375
Sumburgh	1,367	24,772	26,139	172,434	47,193	219,627	245,766
Tiree	.	.	.	12,285	-	12,285	12,285
Wick John O'Groats	-	-	.	16,680	76	16,756	16,756
Total	15,253,493	1,279,121	16,532,614	12,627,407	283,130	12,910,537	29,443,151

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1. 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.

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

Table 8.8: Punctuality of flights at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Edinburgh
											numbers
Flights to/from UK origins / destinations
Matched	72,499	64,086	58,282	58,404	56,926	55,314	54,580	58,822	57,931	58,314	57,117
Unmatched - actual 1	366	193	268	106	82	83	71	71	20	0	2
Unmatched - planned 2	517	365	1,083	274	257	224	212	285	-	-	-
Percentage of flights late 3											percentages
early to 15 mins late	79	84	79	84	84	85	82	80	75	75	75
16 to 30 mins late	10	8	9	8	8	7	9	10	11	11	10
31 to 60 mins late	7	5	6	5	5	5	5	6	8	8	7
1 hr 1 min to 3 hrs late	4	3	5	3	3	3	4	4	6	5	6
3hrs 1 min to 6 hrs late	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
more than 6 hrs late	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
											minutes
Average delay 4	12	10	13	9	9	9	10	12	15	14	14
											numbers
All flights (UK and international)
Matched	107,172	100,408	94,863	99,823	97,645	98,670	96,292	102,038	110,276	116,771	118,725
Unmatched - actual 1	518	387	492	276	188	150	113	134	36	1	2
Unmatched - planned 2	769	575	2,061	552	312	275	260	394	-	-	-
Percentage of flights late 3											percentages
early to 15 mins late	77	82	77	83	84	84	82	78	73	73	73
16 to 30 mins late	11	9	10	9	8	8	9	11	13	14	11
31 to 60 mins late	7	5	7	5	5	4	5	6	8	9	8
1 hr 1 min to 3 hrs late	4	3	5	3	3	3	3	4	5	5	5
3hr 1 min to 6 hrs late	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
more than 6 hrs late	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
											minutes
Average delay 4	13	11	15	10	9	9	9	12	15	15	15
Glasgow
											numbers
Flights to/from UK origins / destinations
Matched	60,243	51,934	47,933	46,214	47,010	46,137	47,175	50,524	51,293	52,683	49,193
Unmatched - actual 1	636	198	233	118	88	70	77	132	16	6	14
Unmatched - planned 2	375	274	763	305	240	205	229	247	-	-	-
Percentage of flights late											percentages
early to 15 mins late	79	85	80	85	85	84	83	77	77	77	75
16 to 30 mins late	10	7	8	7	7	7	8	10	10	10	8
31 to 60 mins late	7	4	6	4	4	5	5	7	7	7	7
1 hr 1 min to 3 hrs late	4	3	5	3	3	3	3	5	5	5	6
3hrs 1 min to 6 hrs late	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1
more than 6 hrs late	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
											minutes
Average delay 4	12	10	12	9	9	10	10	14	14	14	14
											numbers
All flights (UK and international)
Matched	85,274	73,262	68,291	69,507	71,637	71,901	73,396	79,618	83,691	88,246	83,312
Unmatched - actual 1	814	294	482	176	160	136	152	238	41	6	16
Unmatched - planned 2	526	330	1,175	393	297	252	262	314	-	-	-
Percentage of flights late											percentages
early to 15 mins late	75	82	77	83	83	83	82	76	75	75	75
16 to 30 mins late	11	8	9	8	8	8	9	11	11	12	10
31 to 60 mins late	8	5	7	5	5	5	5	7	8	8	7
1 hr 1 min to 3 hrs late	5	4	6	4	4	3	3	5	5	5	5
3hrs 1 min to 6 hrs late	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	1
more than 6 hrs late	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
											minutes
Average delay 4	16	12	16	11	11	11	11	14	14	14	14

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

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

2. 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.

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

From January 2001, a different assumption has been used for the taxiing time for departures from Edinburgh airport.

4. 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" 

Table 8.9: Aircraft movements, by airport and type of movement, 2018 ¹ 

Airport	Commercial Movements				Non-commercial Movements								Total
	Air Transport	Positioning Flights	Local Movements	Total	Test and Training	Other Flights by air transport operators	Aero Club	Private	Official	Millitary	Business	Total
Aberdeen	80,897	3,539	57	84,493	3,220	2,004	1,387	-	4	77	94	6,786	91,279
Barra	1,287	1	-	1,288	20	-	-	121	-	10	-	151	1,439
Benbecula	3,327	212	4	3,543	10	3	-	56	-	38	-	107	3,650
Campbeltown	1,144	136	-	1,280	156	-	-	160	-	291	-	607	1,887
Dundee	1,410	335	184	1,929	1,056	91	34,199	926	4	1,104	656	38,036	39,965
Edinburgh	124,793	1,655	18	126,466	41	22	-	3,385	14	80	8	3,550	130,016
Glasgow	86,467	1,905	10	88,382	527	3,495	4,277	1	-	106	369	8,775	97,157
Glasgow Prestwick	4,853	377	-	5,230	5,633	-	7,926	2,124	2	3,989	-	19,674	24,904
Inverness	15,877	1,907	507	18,291	1,824	121	7,366	1,382	-	94	612	11,399	29,690
Islay	1,844	139	-	1,983	6	-	-	672	-	90	-	768	2,751
Kirkwall	12,892		35	13,840	279	164	-	465	-	10	13	931	14,771
Lerwick (Tingwall)	1,270	184	-	1,454	6	-	-	87	-	-	-	93	1,547
Scatsta	8,061	317	-	8,378	128	5	-	-	-	2	-	135	8,513
Stornoway	8,716	345	220	9,281	728	-	2	319	-	240	-	1,289	10,570
Sumburgh	12,382	1,690	315	14,387	881	1,267	-	69	-	24	-	2,241	16,628
Tiree	1,708	4	-	1,712	-	-	-	143	-	-	-	143	1,855
Wick John O'Groats	1,848	794	17	2,659	471	108	2	723	-	95	-	1,399	4,058
Total	368,776	14,453	1,367	384,596	14,986	7,280	55,159	10,633	24	6,250	1,752	96,084	480,680

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

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

Table 8.10: Air transport movements by airport, type of service and operator, 2018 ²

	Scheduled			Charter			Air taxi 1 movements	Total
Airport	UK Operators	Over seas Operators	Total	UK Operators	Over seas Operators	Total
Aberdeen	33,834	11,361	45,195	32,491	3,866	36,357	3,122	84,674
Barra	1,389	-	1,389	1	-	1	2	1,392
Benbecula	1,960	-	1,960	-	-	-	1,409	3,369
Campbeltown	1,069	-	1,069	-	-	-	152	1,221
Dundee	1,132	-	1,132	7	76	83	214	1,429
Edinburgh	78,424	44,630	123,054	1,420	952	2,372	753	126,179
Glasgow	62,705	20,664	83,369	2,250	258	2,508	2,449	88,326
Glasgow Prestwick	-	4,712	4,712	20	95	115	42	4,869
Inverness	10,936	861	11,797	29	181	210	3,973	15,980
Islay	1,832	-	1,832	-	-	0	172	2,004
Kirkwall	11,818	-	11,818	18	4	22	1,495	13,335
Lerwick (Tingwall)	955	-	955	-	-	-	315	1,270
Scatsta	-	-	-	8,081	-	8,081	-	8,081
Stornoway	6,888	-	6,888	7	8	15	2,056	8,959
Sumburgh	7,080	-	7,080	3,385	9	3,394	1,153	11,627
Tiree	1,769	-	1,769	-	-	-	136	1,905
Wick John O'Groats	1,524	-	1,524	2	-	2	418	1,944
Total	223,315	82,228	305,543	47,711	5,449	53,160	17,861	376,564

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1. A breakdown of air taxi movements between scheduled and chartered aircraft transport movements is no longer available. They have therefore been shown as a separate category.

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

Table 8.11: Air transport movements ¹

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Aberdeen	108,453	106,366	99,419	92,287	99,452	104,227	106,755	112,537	106,755	86,735	85,727	84,674
Barra	1,209	1,262	1,199	1,178	1,183	1,319	881	888	881	1,322	1,397	1,392
Benbecula	4,320	4,145	4,292	3,965	3,912	3,958	3,286	3,013	3,286	3,194	3,211	3,369
Campbeltown	1,307	1,216	1,359	1,251	1,133	1,105	1,123	1,150	1,123	1,135	1,173	1,221
Dundee	3,513	3,910	4,159	3,838	3,033	2,872	1,543	1,407	1,543	1,651	1,392	1,429
Edinburgh	120,096	118,899	111,059	104,288	108,708	106,958	106,748	103,388	106,748	117,293	123,628	126,179
Glasgow	97,277	90,977	77,874	71,598	72,377	74,615	75,585	77,447	75,585	90,734	91,155	88,326
Glasgow Prestwick	20,454	20,427	15,496	13,135	10,017	8,166	8,623	6,659	8,623	4,698	5,076	4,869
Inverness	19,352	17,936	15,791	13,254	15,097	14,814	14,425	13,886	14,425	15,258	16,415	15,980
Islay	1,731	1,869	1,677	1,809	2,004	1,817	1,739	1,730	1,739	1,774	2,067	2,004
Kirkwall	14,008	14,121	13,849	12,945	12,599	12,400	12,951	12,935	12,951	12,927	13,488	13,335
Lerwick (Tingwall)	1,913	1,863	2,011	1,652	1,817	1,783	1,748	1,583	1,748	1,802	1,389	1,270
Scatsta	11,333	10,743	12,704	12,731	13,199	13,915	13,338	12,503	13,338	7,468	7,780	8,081
Stornoway	9,741	10,028	9,484	8,842	9,190	9,367	8,644	8,358	8,644	8,426	9,033	8,959
Sumburgh	9,861	9,812	8,435	8,237	9,156	10,963	13,606	14,677	13,606	17,534	16,881	11,627
Tiree	755	937	1,109	1,023	1,019	1,121	1,111	1,138	1,111	1,854	1,925	1,905
Unst	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wick John O'Groats	2,860	2,571	2,776	2,394	2,416	2,660	4,276	2,885	4,276	2,147	2,119	1,944
Total	428,183	417,082	382,693	354,427	366,312	372,060	376,382	376,184	376,382	375,952	383,856	376,564

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

Table 8.12: Total aircraft movements, by airport ¹

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Aberdeen	121,927	119,831	109,876	102,396	108,862	115,013	118,219	124,282	118,219	96,156	97,007	91,279
Barra	1,296	1,310	1,356	1,252	1,258	1,403	966	988	966	1,345	1,412	1,439
Benbecula	4,810	4,660	4,779	4,402	4,366	4,478	3,708	3,504	3,708	3,648	3,420	3,650
Campbeltown	3,674	1,921	2,418	2,334	1,993	1,527	1,596	1,628	1,596	1,452	1,410	1,887
Dundee	37,292	36,297	39,274	37,169	36,815	40,926	40,427	35,730	40,427	36,730	38,096	39,965
Edinburgh	128,172	125,550	115,969	108,997	113,357	110,288	111,736	109,545	111,736	122,220	128,675	130,016
Glasgow	108,305	100,087	85,281	77,755	78,111	80,472	79,520	84,000	79,520	98,127	102,766	97,157
Glasgow Prestwick	47,910	42,708	34,230	33,087	28,546	25,670	24,305	25,643	24,305	25,714	24,897	24,904
Inverness	39,139	40,538	30,290	28,155	30,755	31,764	28,947	28,495	28,947	30,450	31,002	29,690
Islay	2,650	2,625	2,603	2,775	3,003	2,969	2,637	2,610	2,637	2,540	2,637	2,751
Kirkwall	15,574	15,982	15,590	14,535	14,131	13,980	14,403	14,420	14,403	14,539	14,754	14,771
Lerwick (Tingwall)	2,050	2,085	2,157	1,859	1,926	1,924	2,084	2,169	2,084	2,426	1,795	1,547
Scatsta	12,961	12,951	14,364	13,841	14,475	15,587	14,668	13,778	14,668	7,894	8,224	8,513
Stornoway	12,716	13,072	11,627	10,952	11,255	11,564	11,049	10,909	11,049	10,600	10,924	10,570
Sumburgh	13,984	14,758	12,159	11,118	12,228	14,045	16,771	18,171	16,771	21,129	22,347	16,628
Tiree	868	1,071	1,316	1,210	1,111	1,224	1,247	1,295	1,247	1,937	1,903	1,855
Unst	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wick John O'Groats	6,327	7,221	6,231	4,754	4,734	5,474	7,787	5,711	7,787	4,427	3,827	4,058
Total	559,655	542,667	489,520	456,591	466,926	478,308	480,070	482,878	480,070	481,334	495,096	480,680

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

 

Table 8.13: Freight carried by airport¹

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
											tonnes
Aberdeen	4,006	3,822	4,211	5,311	6,166	7,102	6,278	6,545	5,731	5,870	5,706
Barra 3	34	34	29	29	27	26	21	19	15	15	14
Benbecula 3	587	564	531	466	475	457	310	313	339	346	366
Campbeltown 3	1	1	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Dundee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Edinburgh 2	12,418	23,791	20,357	19,332	19,115	18,624	19,369	19,322	20,369	20,659	20,316
Glasgow 2	3,546	2,334	2,914	2,430	9,497	11,837	15,411	13,193	12,952	15,935	15,466
Glasgow Prestwick	22,966	13,385	12,163	11,846	10,314	9,526	12,540	11,242	10,822	11,393	13,003
Inverness 3	2,104	2,443	2,800	1,833	2,601	2,524	2,507	2,507	2,584	2,536	2,827
Islay 3	335	340	310	287	284	273	276	288	303	308	347
Kirkwall 3	730	646	777	132	97	103	107	94	97	246	1,054
Lerwick (Tingwall)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scatsta	723	752	765	808	873	849	788	702	456	490	449
Stornoway 3	1,610	1,641	1,630	1,659	1,704	1,752	1,200	1,173	1,153	1,271	1,330
Sumburgh 3	1,109	1,075	990	979	990	1,095	1,018	998	1,005	1,150	1,381
Tiree 3	56	56	52	49	57	55	52	44	53	44	50
Unst	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wick John O'Groats 3	3	2	2	1	-	1	1	1	1	-	-
Total	50,228	50,886	47,532	45,162	52,200	54,225	59,878	56,441	55,880	60,263	62,308

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

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

2. 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.

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

Table 8.14: Characteristics of terminal passengers, 2018 ¹

	International passengers				Domestic passengers				All services				All
	Business		Leisure		Business		Leisure		Business	Leisure	UK resid.	Foreign resid.
Airport	UK resid.	Non UK resid.	UK resid.	Non UK resid.	UK resid.	Non UK resid.	UK resid.	Non UK resid.
													row percentages
Aberdeen	6.9	6.2	16.5	4.9	30.6	3.6	27.8	3.4	47.3	52.6	81.8	18.1	100
Edinburgh	3.3	2.8	33.3	22.8	14.6	0.8	18.1	4.4	21.5	78.6	69.3	30.8	100
Glasgow	2.2	2.0	39.3	12.3	17.4	0.4	22.7	3.5	22.0	77.8	81.6	18.2	100
Inverness	1.8	1.2	3.2	5.0	25.7	0.9	54.9	7.4	29.6	70.5	85.6	14.5	100

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1. The CAA survey collected statistics only for the airports shown in the table.

 

Table 8.15: Mode of surface transport used to arrive at the airport ¹ 

Airport 2		Bus and rail			Car and taxi				Other modes	Total all modes*
		Bus / coach	Rail	Total bus + rail	Private car	Hire car	Taxi / minicab	Total car + taxi
										row percentages
Aberdeen	1975	13	0	13	50	7	28	85	3	101
	1982	9	0	9	50	8	30	88	3	100
	1990	6	0	6	49	8	36	93	1	100
	1996	5	0	5	55	7	32	94	1	100
	2001	4.7	0.0	4.7	49.2	5.2	38.8	93.2	2.1	100
	2005	6.2	0.0	6.2	49.5	6.1	36.9	92.5	1.3	100
	2009 3	5.7	3.3	9.0	48.1	3.9	36.6	88.6	2.4	100
	2013 3	9.0	3.5	12.5	43.6	4.0	38.4	85.9	1.6	100
	2018	11.9	0.0	11.9	44.8	4.2	12.5	61.4	26.6	100
Edinburgh	1970	24	0	24	54	6	13	73	3	100
	1975	22	0	22	55	8	14	77	1	100
	1982	9	0	9	61	10	19	90	2	101
	1990	7	0	7	56	10	25	91	1	99
	1996	9	0	9	53	10	28	91	0	100
	2001	18.4	0.0	18.4	46.8	6.3	28.1	81.2	0.4	100
	2005	19.3	0.0	19.3	48.6	5.8	25.7	80.1	0.6	100
	2009 3	26.9	2.6	29.5	43.2	5.3	21.3	69.9	0.6	100
	2013 3	9.2	3.8	13.0	38.5	1.0	21.8	61.3	25.7	100
	2018	7.2	5.1	12.3	30.2	3.7	18.6	52.5	35.2	100
Glasgow	1970	24	0	24	54	4	16	74	2	100
	1975	16	0	16	60	4	19	83	1	100
	1982	8	0	8	70	4	17	91	1	100
	1990	8	0	8	62	7	22	91	2	101
	1996	7	0	7	61	7	23	91	1	99
	2001	8.3	0.0	8.3	60.1	4.9	26.0	91.0	0.7	100
	2005	10.7	0.0	10.7	57.6	4.4	26.4	88.4	0.9	100
	2009 3	11.6	3.1	14.7	51.6	4.0	27.0	82.5	2.8	100
	2013 3	14.1	4.2	18.3	50.4	0.7	25.7	76.7	5.0	100
	2018	11.4	2.4	13.8	49.0	2.9	29.3	81.2	4.9	100
Glas. Prestwick	2005	3.6	20.8	24.4	57.2	12.5	5.2	74.9	0.7	100
	2009 3	11.0	26.7	37.7	44.8	5.5	9.8	60.2	2.1	100
Inverness	1990	7	0	7	62	15	15	92	1	100
	1996	6	0	6	57	17	17	91	3	100
	2001	4.0	0.0	4.0	56.3	17.1	20.8	94.2	1.8	100
	2005	4.9	0.0	4.9	60.5	17.9	14.4	92.8	2.3	100
	2009 3	9.1	2.2	11.4	55.6	18.3	12.5	86.4	2.3	100
	2013 3	17.1	3.3	20.4	49.6	8.5	11.8	69.9	9.7	100
	2018	10.7	3.0	13.7	46.8	25.4	4.9	77.1	9.2	100

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1. The CAA surveys collected statistics only for the airports shown in the table.  These results are based on a departure survey only.

 The CAA's assumption, for weighting purposes, is that arriving and departing passengers share the same modal characteristics

 The next survey which included Scottish airports took place in 2018 and will be published in the 2019 edition of STS.

2. Airports are shown only for the years for which figures are given in the CAA survey reports for 1996 (which also gives earlier years' results), 2001, 2005 and 2009.

3. A small adjustment has been made to the percentages due to an error in the calculations used to produce the figures.

*. 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.

 

Table 8.16: Origins/destinations of terminating passengers: 2018 ¹ 

	Aberdeen	Edinburgh	Glasgow	Inverness	Total
					thousands
Borders	1	292	12	-	304
Central	4	748	368	-	1,120
Dumfries & Galloway	0	36	90	-	127
Fife	16	1,126	104	-	1,246
Grampian	2,161	223	137	165	2,686
Highlands & Islands	89	165	147	703	1,105
Lothian	13	9,116	274	-	9,403
Strathclyde	31	1,102	7,620	1	8,753
Tayside	73	1,074	296	0	1,443
Total all Scottish areas	2,388	13,883	9,048	870	26,189
England & Wales	43	167	63	0	274
All passengers2	2,431	14,051	9,110	870	26,462

Source: Civil Aviation Authority - Not National Statistics

1. The CAA survey collected statistics only for the airports shown in the table.  

2. Terminating passengers are those who arrive at or depart from an airport by surface means of transport.  As explained in the Notes and Definitions, their numbers are not the same as the numbers of terminalpassengers: the latter also include transfer passengers (people who change aircraft at an airport).