Chapter 8: Air Transport

Chapter 8: Air Transport

Chapter 8 infographic

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 and air transport movements.

Key Points

  • There were 28.9 million air passengers at Scottish airports in 2019
  • Four fifths travel to or from Edinburgh or Glasgow.
  • 60 thousand tonnes of freight were carried by air in 2019.

2. Main Points

Passengers and Airports

2.1 There were 28.9 million air terminal passengers in 2019, 0.6 million (1.9%) less 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 38 per cent. (Table 8.1)

2.2 Edinburgh airport had 14.7 million terminal passengers in 2019 (3% increase) and Glasgow airport had 8.8 million, 8% less than the previous year. Aberdeen had 2.9 million, (down 5%) and Inverness had 0.9 million (5% 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 2019, London Heathrow accounted for 45% of passengers on selected domestic routes to and from Aberdeen, 24% for Edinburgh and 23% 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, 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, particularly London Heathrow. (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 2.7 million passenger journeys in 2019, 17% of all passengers on direct flights abroad. Other popular origins/destinations were the Netherlands (1.5 million passengers), the Irish Republic (1.4 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. Barbados and Russia are only served by charter flights, whereas all those who travelled to/from Malta or 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 2019) were Amsterdam with 1.4 million passengers and Dublin with 1.2 million passengers. However, it should be noted that Amsterdam and Dubai are global hubs with extensive connections to the rest of the world. (Table 8.5)

2.7 In 2019, 5% of all terminal passenger traffic was within Scotland, 38% was to/from other parts of the UK, and 45% was between Scotland and mainland Europe. (Table 8.6)

Delays and Movements

2.8 In 2019, the overall average delay was 13 minutes for flights to or from both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports (the Notes and Definitions section, page 225 describes the basis for these figures). Around 12% 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 2019 was 478,000. Edinburgh had the highest number of aircraft movements with 132,000, (98% of which were commercial movements), followed by Glasgow (92,000) and Aberdeen (91,000). (Table 8.9)

Air freight

2.10 Air freight carried in 2019 decreased by 3,393 tonnes (5%) over the previous year to 59,914 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
  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Passengers thousand
Terminal 22,496 20,907 22,065 22,207 23,250 24,076 25,507 26,924 28,833 29,443 28,876
Transit 43 50 46 29 25 27 26 21 21 23 23
Total 22,539 20,957 22,111 22,236 23,275 24,103 25,533 26,945 28,854 29,466 28,899
Terminal passengers1
by airport
thousand
Aberdeen 2,984 2,763 3,083 3,329 3,440 3,723 3,469 2,955 3,090 3,056 2,913
Barra 10 10 10 11 9 11 11 13 15 15 15
Benbecula 33 30 34 31 31 31 32 32 33 35 35
Campbeltown 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 9 8 8
Dundee 72 70 62 55 28 22 22 38 21 21 21
Edinburgh 9,043 8,594 9,384 9,194 9,775 10,159 11,113 12,348 13,409 14,292 14,734
Glasgow 7,213 6,522 6,858 7,150 7,358 7,709 8,710 9,324 9,895 9,653 8,843
Glasgow Prestwick 1,817 1,660 1,296 1,067 1,145 912 610 672 696 681 639
Inverness 583 528 579 602 607 611 668 782 874 893 938
Islay 26 25 26 21 26 27 29 28 32 33 35
Kirkwall 138 129 134 132 150 151 150 153 164 170 162
Lerwick (Tingwall) 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 3
Scatsta 270 279 288 304 298 280 254 162 171 175 109
Stornoway 122 112 122 116 120 127 125 124 132 133 130
Sumburgh 139 139 143 149 210 263 270 249 256 246 267
Tiree 8 8 8 7 8 9 10 11 12 12 12
Unst 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wick John O'Groats 21 22 24 25 33 28 24 20 18 17 13
tonnes
Freight 50,886 47,532 45,162 52,200 54,225 59,878 56,441 55,880 60,263 62,308 58,914
Aircraft movements 2
Air transport thousand
Domestic 3 225 206 206 204 201 202 207 197 210 205 193
International 3,4 129 124 135 138 145 146 142 146 151 154 155
Air taxi 3 28 24 26 29 30 28 30 33 23 18 19
Other movements 5 108 102 100 107 104 107 101 105 111 104 111
Total 490 457 467 478 480 483 480 481 495 481 478

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.

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

 

Table 8.2: Passengers on selected domestic routes, to/from certain Scottish airports 1
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Aberdeen
Glasgow - - 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 - 0.1 0.3 - 0.1
Kirkwall 39.5 38.6 41.5 47.2 48.6 49.1 48.2 35.7 54.9 57.6 49.9
Scatsta 145.1 151.4 154.1 168.1 165.7 159.9 142.7 75.1 94.6 94.1 60.6
Stornoway 6.4 6.3 6.0 5.6 5.5 6.2 5.5 3.6 4.8 6 0
Sumburgh 63.8 63.5 69.1 75.2 115.3 150.7 143.7 107.4 155.5 140.7 116.1
Wick John O'Groats 14.5 14.7 14.8 14.6 13.9 14.4 12.8 5.7 6.9 7.8 5.3
Gatwick 135.5 129.9 177.8 233.9 173.2 161.8 163.2 143.7 156.4 150.1 10.5
Heathrow 641.3 617.7 652.5 663.8 712.2 776.9 726.7 592.7 622 675.8 692.3
London City - - - 15.8 73.2 72.0 63.3 64.5 54.4 42.2 5
Luton 126.9 129.0 147.7 120 82.8 74.5 71.3 72.1 75.1 72.6 79.6
Belfast2 24.2 19.0 18.9 21.5 30.2 37.5 40 43.3 42.8 41.9 38.7
Birmingham 111.1 89.9 83.0 87.3 96.8 125.1 115.8 129.6 131.1 112.6 113.1
Bristol 23.2 22.7 32.8 32.9 34.9 31.8 26.4 21.6 16.7 13.2 15.8
Cardiff Wales 6.9 0.5 10.5 14.1 13.2 12.9 10.6 5.6 8.4 6.8 0.6
Durham Tees valley 31.9 29.9 31.3 33.4 32.7 35 28.2 13.2 17.5 21.5 17.1
East Midlands 19.5 18.1 18.9 19.8 18.4 16.7 15.5 5.4 - - 0.1
Exeter 28.1 30.1 22.4 4.8 - - - - 0.1 - 0.1
Humberside 32.0 27.1 30.2 32.2 34.2 36.6 30.1 18.2 23.6 23.1 19.3
Leeds/Bradford 15.5 8.1 0.5 0.6 12.3 7.0 9.2 3.6 5.1 2.2 0.1
Manchester 104.6 93.1 144.5 180.7 203.3 226.1 202.6 202.4 208.1 218.6 214
Newcastle 18.5 26.4 24.8 24.9 30.8 30.2 20.8 8.9 11.4 10.9 22.2
Norwich 60.9 60.0 61.7 64.6 63.8 60.2 50.6 42.4 45.4 41.9 45.6
Southend - - - - - - - - - - 25.1
Southampton 45.2 27.9 22.6 16.3 9.5 14.0 13.9 6.7 14.2 7.7 1.3
Total these routes 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 1,532.5
Channel Islands 2.0 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.2 13.0 17.9 2.4 2.8 2.5 2.8
Edinburgh
Inverness 0.9 1.0 - - - - - 0.1 0.2 - 0.4
Kirkwall 39.1 35.6 36.5 40.0 43.5 45.4 44.5 45.8 45.9 46.2 48.4
Stornoway 31.8 21.9 21.7 19.9 19.3 20.5 20.6 20.6 16.9 17.9 18.4
Sumburgh 32.9 32.4 35.6 36.9 39.9 45 44.8 43.5 47.1 47.6 44.8
Wick John O'Groats 7.6 7.8 9.1 9.6 11.4 11.7 11.1 11.6 11.1 9.3 7.4
Gatwick 647.9 604.1 669.1 696.8 693.7 690.4 672.9 700.1 737.3 740.9 731.8
Heathrow 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 1196.9
London City 326.6 334.7 344.9 322.7 333.9 352.3 532.9 528 484.9 497 513.4
Luton 315.6 242.1 259.4 269.8 273.5 259.7 266.6 272.5 309.1 315.1 312.7
Stansted 373.7 329.9 390.4 346.4 326.6 360.3 622.2 836.9 720.3 732 618.6
Belfast2 351.5 331.2 351.9 361.5 372.8 377.9 400.8 439.9 456.9 479.4 482.3
Birmingham 336.2 288.0 289.0 285.9 284.2 284 277.9 267.3 255.1 267.7 265.8
Bournemouth 88.4 17.7 - 0.2 0.1 - 0.3 0.1 - 0.1 0
Bristol 235.2 227.0 286.6 295.5 305.2 322.8 352 381.9 393.9 400 396.9
Cardiff Wales 161.0 111.5 83.6 77.7 77.0 57.6 69.2 94.3 99.4 102.1 111.4
City of Derry - - - - - - - - - 13.4 77
East Midlands 130.2 108.7 109.8 72.7 86.7 92.7 95.3 93.7 92.9 93.2 72.1
Exeter 61.1 53.8 51.4 40.2 36.5 38.3 45.1 45.2 47.6 48.1 58.1
Leeds/Bradford 19.0 13.0 9.8 2.2 - - - - - - -
Liverpool - - - - - - - 15.9 - 0.2 -
Manchester 158.3 126.7 119.6 108.3 118.5 109.3 114.1 102.3 117.4 117 116.3
Manston (Kent Int) - 17.6 26.5 3.4 - - - - - - -
Newquay 12.2 13.1 13.7 9.9 4.5 2.3 2.4 2.7 5 4.4 4
Norwich 50.4 47.8 46.4 39.7 24.7 28.5 29.3 25.8 28.6 29.8 33.8
Southampton 191.5 194.0 203.6 204.5 207.6 203.2 194.1 198.5 208.1 183.2 182.7
Southend - - - - 39.1 23.7 - - 0.7 0.1 0.1
Total these routes 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 5,076.7
Channel Islands 23.2 18.3 14.6 11.1 9.2 3.2 6.4 7.0 5.5 20.3 24.9
Isle of Man 11.5 11.4 11.6 10.8 4.2 - - - 3.5 6.2 7.9

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 airports 1
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
thousands
Glasgow
Barra 8.7 8.6 8.4 9 9.1 10.5 10.7 12.8 14.9 14.7 14.6
Benbecula 24.7 21.9 22.6 19.7 21.8 23 23.5 24.2 24.1 26.1 25.8
Campbeltown 9.3 8.7 9.2 8.6 9.3 9.3 8.2 8.4 8.6 8.4 7.9
Inverness - - - - - 0.1 - 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.1
Islay 26 25 26 25.1 25.6 27.2 28.7 22.3 32.6 32.8 29
Kirkwall 15.4 14.9 15.3 15.1 17.6 17.3 17.4 16.0 19.6 22.5 20.2
Stornoway 53.7 51.0 55.1 55.6 57.5 61.9 62.4 55.4 75 75.9 75.8
Sumburgh 17.4 16.8 17.9 18.0 20.1 24.5 28.6 24.5 33 29.2 23.3
Tiree 7.3 7.2 7.8 7.9 7.6 8 8.7 8.3 11.3 11.7 11.6
Gatwick 514.7 488.8 565.8 607.4 606.3 613.3 612.5 608.6 618.7 620.4 641.6
Heathrow 1,080.0 1,003.3 820.9 828.5 870.0 871.0 907.9 893.8 909.1 911.2 865
London City 114.9 111.1 149.4 158.2 175.4 207.9 238.4 235.1 231.1 230.2 253.8
Luton 326.0 247.7 274.6 276.5 280.7 270.2 215.1 214.7 234.8 243.7 245.6
Stansted 305.1 301.8 342.8 331.6 308.7 304.2 533.3 652.4 527.1 432.3 278.5
Belfast2 323.9 308.2 352.8 367.0 370.1 384.6 421.5 452.2 424.6 440.3 435.7
Birmingham 269.4 212.6 211.9 208.1 203.5 229.4 226.7 226.7 221.7 234.5 230
Bristol 212.3 201.2 222.2 239.7 257.4 245.3 267.2 297.3 307 312.1 322.1
Cardiff Wales 56.4 52.4 47.2 39.8 48.2 27.9 18.1 37.7 28.9 33.3 24.6
City of Derry - - - - - 13.3 76 80.7 85 64.7 14.4
East Midlands 115.0 99.7 103.4 70.7 85.5 91.9 95 109.5 102.7 97.1 64.9
Exeter 33.4 26.5 24.4 25.6 23.8 20.7 3.1 32.8 38.8 39.9 34.3
Leeds/Bradford 19.9 14.6 13.2 11.9 10.0 9.8 8.3 7 7 -
Manchester 100.4 68.3 49.4 50.0 52 68.3 45.4 42.5 51.2 62.5 47.2
Newquay 0.3 0.2 0.9 3.6 1.8 - - 2.3 3.1 2 3.8
Plymouth 24.4 23.3 13.6 - - - - - - - -
Southampton 156.3 143.4 139.6 173.6 182.6 173 158.3 179.4 197.8 186.3 170.6
Southend - - - - - - - - - 42 21.6
Total these routes 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 3,742.8
Channel Islands 5.4 9.2 17.0 28.3 36.4 34.1 34.7 40.7 56.1 55.7 51.1
Isle of Man 13.8 11.0 11.0 11.1 4.0 7.5 9.9 8.0 5.5 2 0.1
Glasgow Prestwick
Stansted 278.3 224.6 88.5 - - - - - 0.1 - -
Belfast City 91.7 61.2 - - - - - - 0.2 - -
Birmingham - - - - - - - - - - 0.1
Bournemouth 34.3 - - - - - - - - - -
Cardiff Wales - - - - - - - - 0.1 - -
City of Derry 51.3 55.0 70.6 72.8 69.5 52.1 - - - - -
Total these routes 455.6 340.8 159.1 72.8 69.5 52.1 - - 0.4 - 0.1
Channel Islands - 1.4 - - - - - - - - -
Isle of Man - - - - - - - - 0.1 - -
Inverness
Benbecula - - - - 0.7 1.4 2.1 - - - -
Kirkwall 24.8 23.1 21.7 16.8 19.2 19.1 19.9 19.2 23.7 22.6 21.6
Stornoway 33.1 29.8 36.4 36.2 32.9 29.1 27.1 31.2 29.2 27.6 29.8
Sumburgh - - 1.5 4.2 3.3 3.4 3.7 3.5 1.0 0.1 0.2
Gatwick 224.9 206.8 222.7 230.4 219.3 192.9 207.1 237.9 263.4 262.2 258.4
Heathrow - - - - - - - 57.9 79.1 97.6 140.4
London City - - - - - 7.6 4.9 - - - -
Luton 86.6 90.3 99.6 88.8 91.8 89.6 93.5 133.9 136.4 147.2 146.6
Stansted - - 0.2 0.1 - - - 0.1 0.4 0.1 -
Belfast2 19.3 16.8 21.5 23.6 23.3 27.2 29.2 30.3 33.2 36 32.9
Birmingham 30.3 30.4 30.3 33.0 34.8 41.2 41.4 42.5 44.1 45.1 39.7
Bristol 73.3 69.2 75.4 78.1 81.2 77.6 82.4 87.7 96.7 92.8 91
East Midlands Int 20.4 - - - - - - - - 0.1 3.7
Manchester 50.5 46.4 49.2 51.0 55.8 70.5 84.5 68.2 65.6 56.7 50.4
Southhampton 3.9 2.4 2.1 1.8 - - - - - - -
Total these routes 567.1 515.2 560.6 564.0 561.6 558.2 593.7 658.5 718.9 737.8 763.1
Channel Islands 1.2 1.3 1.8 1.6 1.7 1.8 2.1 1.9 2.0 1.8 1.8
Isle of Man - - - - - - - - - - 0.1

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.

Fig 8.1: Scottish Airports

Fig 8.1: Scottish Airports

Terminal Air Passenger Traffic 2009 and 2019

Terminal Air Passenger Traffic 2009 and 2019

 

Table 8.3(a): International air passenger traffic to and from the main Scottish international airports 1
Regional Area / Country 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
EU 28 countries (Excl UK) thousand
Austria 28.9 24.9 28.2 28.3 28.6 29.9 29.0 79.6 89.7 95.2 81.5
Belgium 113.3 134.0 110.6 115.6 153.7 153.0 172.2 194.8 216.5 239.9 250.1
Bulgaria 48.4 45.2 45.6 46.8 46.1 39.3 39.3 49.6 73.6 91.1 101.8
Croatia 3 24.3 11.6 7.1 12.9 31.6 42.0 56.3 62.2 109.7 102.7 88.1
Cyprus 139.4 95.9 148.7 152.9 119.6 112.4 134.3 162.4 175.4 181.5 176.7
Czech Republic 47.5 44.6 47.9 48.0 89.6 79.0 96.3 97.9 124.6 181.4 181.5
Denmark 178.1 175.8 178.2 188.6 220.3 187.0 254.0 298.3 266.5 279.2 290.9
Estonia - - 29.1 - - - 0.2 0.1 - 6.6 35.1
Finland 3.5 34.6 37.4 32.1 3.7 4.5 4.8 32.1 39.9 54.9 68.3
France 862.1 790.7 787.5 808.3 806.7 727.2 725.7 861.7 909.6 987.5 923.9
Germany 663.7 660.3 682.0 698.7 761.2 823.5 852.6 1,009.8 1,127.6 1,196.8 1,159.5
Greece 158.9 153.8 163.7 212.9 193.0 270.3 258.6 277.2 335.2 370.1 359.8
Hungary 30.2 19.6 24.4 36.5 37.9 37.1 60.6 86.9 94.1 131.5 138.7
Irish Republic 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 1,354.4
Italy 401.8 359.2 342.3 384.3 396.9 375.4 398.7 584.9 684.2 753.2 804.4
Latvia 36.5 47.2 46.5 20.2 31.9 38.5 20.3 29.5 43.5 37.3 34.8
Lithuania - 28.3 32.3 29.0 24.8 21.3 29.8 36.2 42.4 37.4 28.5
Luxembourg - - - 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.5 0.8 0.1 35.5
Malta 45.6 52.7 71.2 57.5 61.5 67.1 74.8 84.8 96.3 114.7 104.9
Netherlands 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 1,490.0
Poland 374.2 328.0 326.9 341.3 431.4 355.7 489.7 589.8 625.2 611.8 614.0
Portugal (excl Madeira) 207.5 212.4 280.0 273.9 298.3 294.8 306.5 346.0 436.1 440.8 448.9
Portugal (Madeira) 34.4 21.7 23.1 22.8 21.3 29.3 53.4 55.7 52.5 36.0 35.5
Romania 3.0 - - - - 0.4 1.9 58.2 70.8 44.5 56.5
Slovak Republic 50.3 49.9 44.2 33.6 32.1 23.1 23.6 30.9 39.3 38.0 37.1
Slovenia 0.1 0.2 0.9 - - 0.3 - 0.4 1.1 0.6 -
Spain (excl Canary Isles) 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 2,651.8
Spain (Canary Islands) 666.0 658.1 838.3 816.6 849.5 934.1 933.1 1,145.0 1,336.2 1,268.3 1,207.0
Sweden 159.3 131.9 137.4 128.2 112.6 83.5 105.7 107.8 136.6 164.4 179.3
Total EU28 countries (Excl UK) 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 12,938.4
Total EU15 countries2 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 11,340.7
Other identified countries
Azerbaijan - - 4.1 5.8 - - 0.2 - - - -
Barbados 8.0 8.4 7.6 6.0 5.2 6.4 7.3 5.1 7.8 8.1 6.7
Canada 107.5 103.3 112.4 117.8 106.1 112.3 148.4 166.6 168.0 182.0 166.8
Cape Verde Islands - - 13.4 22.0 0.2 - - 3.3 20.8 16.0 -
China - - - - - - - - - 19.3 29.2
Cuba - 0.8 1.3 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.9 2.9 0.6 0.6 0.6
Dominican Republic 25.5 23.1 16.8 0.7 - 6.1 - - - 0.2 -
Egypt 97.9 97.8 72.9 66.3 67.0 46.8 44.9 - 3.6 8.1 4.7
Faroe Islands 0.5 1.1 0.9 0.6 1.5 1.4 8.6 11.0 12.7 15.5 15.2
Greenland - 4.1 8.7 - 0.2 - - - - - -
Iceland 9.7 25.0 33.2 42.6 72.8 97.0 112.6 172.0 227.6 213.3 160.9
Jamaica 2.3 0.5 0.9 - - 0.2 1.3 0.8 3.0 4.6 4.1
Mexico 22.9 28.6 35.3 33.2 30.5 29.2 37.1 38.7 39.5 48.3 45.3
Morocco - 19.7 25.2 0.2 0.2 5.4 30.9 15.8 - - -
Norway 302.1 281.2 309.4 337.4 339.9 352.8 320.5 288.1 271.6 293.1 320.5
Pakistan 25.5 26.3 1.9 - - - - - - - -
Qatar - - - - - 54.0 115.5 134.0 133.3 140.7 168.0
Russia 0.8 0.7 - 0.7 0.8 - 0.1 0.1 - 1.0 0.3
Switzerland 148.2 154.9 215.4 236.5 241.1 266.0 276.9 281.8 350.1 353.7 367.2
Tunisia 38.9 66.3 21.6 32.7 61.4 67.7 35.2 - - 14.4 39.4
Turkey 268.6 329.3 328.0 316.0 351.7 404.0 425.7 319.1 257.3 369.4 441.8
United Arab Emirates 244.7 268.5 275.0 314.7 402.3 424.6 502.4 555.7 585.7 580.6 621.7
United States of America 459.7 366.1 411.3 367.7 367.0 446.8 489.1 524.8 676.0 681.5 569.6
Total these countries 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 2,962.1
All identified countries
for these airports 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 15,900.4

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.

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
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Foreign airports served 2 103 100 101 107 113 110 120 137 152 159 147
Routes 3 168 145 146 154 167 176 185 219 252 259 241
thousand
Passengers on scheduled services 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 15,134.0

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, 2019
  Scheduled Charter Total
Albania - - -
Armenia - - -
Austria 61,895 19,558 81,453
Barbados - 6,705 6,705
Belgium 249,004 1,105 250,109
Bosnia-Herzegovina - 122 122
Bulgaria 69,276 32,474 101,750
Canada 166,709 57 166,766
Cape Verde Islands - - -
China 29,214 - 29,214
Croatia 84,678 3,425 88,103
Cuba 648 - 648
Cyprus 128,088 48,575 176,663
Czech Republic 181,450 95 181,545
Denmark 289,733 1,149 290,882
Dominican Republic - - -
Egypt 4,685 - 4,685
Estonia 34,981 113 35,094
Faroe Islands 14,816 404 15,220
Finland 60,531 7,762 68,293
France 902,051 21,807 923,858
Georgia - 94 94
Germany 1,159,530 15 1,159,545
Gibraltar - 172 172
Greece 291,643 68,192 359,835
Hungary 138,674 1 138,675
Iceland 160,069 814 160,883
Irish Republic 1,348,748 5,634 1,354,382
Israel - - -
Italy 752,907 51,509 804,416
Jamaica - 4,109 4,109
Jordan - - -
Kazakhstan - 76 76
Latvia 34,808 - 34,808
Lithuania 28,510 - 28,510
Luxembourg 35,185 304 35,489
Macedonia - - -
Malta 104,939 - 104,939
Mexico 35,758 9,522 45,280
Netherlands 1,487,347 2,604 1,489,951
Norway 319,809 674 320,483
Poland 611,833 2,164 613,997
Portugal(Excluding Madeira) 447,041 1,823 448,864
Portugal(Madeira) 35,471 - 35,471
Qatar 167,974 - 167,974
Republic Of Korea - - -
Romania 55,536 938 56,474
Russia - 339 339
Slovak Republic 37,070 79 37,149
Slovenia - - -
Spain 2,434,490 217,336 2,651,826
Spain(Canary Islands) 1,041,832 165,140 1,206,972
Sweden 178,499 836 179,335
Switzerland 360,688 6,521 367,209
Tunisia 30,874 8,519 39,393
Turkey 386,365 55,454 441,819
United Arab Emirates 621,717 - 621,717
United States of America 548,908 20,702 569,610
Total passenger traffic counted for these
countries for Scotland's main airports 2 15,133,984 766,922 15,900,906
Other international traffic at main Scottish airports 2 .. .. -
All international traffic for Scotland's main airports .. .. 15,900,906
International traffic at other Scottish airports .. .. 123,422
Total International traffic at all Scottish airports .. .. 16,024,328

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 , 2019
  Scheduled Charter Total
Amsterdam 1,439,013 566 1,439,579
Dublin 1,202,291 2,751 1,205,042
Alicante 597,359 27,997 625,356
Dubai 621,717 - 621,717
Tenerife (Surreina Sofia) 494,295 107,137 601,432
Paris (Charles De Gaulle) 584,427 1,014 585,441
Palma De Mallorca 410,346 99,083 509,429
Malaga 489,143 19,520 508,663
Faro 330,585 292 330,877
Frankfurt Main 291,091 - 291,091

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, 2019
  Other Scottish Airports Other UK Airports 1 UK offshore Eire Europe North America Rest of world Total
Aberdeen 232,388 1,303,979 425,152 49,656 899,156 57 - 2,910,388
Barra 14,599 - - - - - - 14,599
Benbecula 34,663 - - - - - - 34,663
Campbeltown 7,975 - - - - - - 7,975
Dundee 46 20,590 - 28 104 - - 20,768
Eday 534 - - - - - - 534
Edinburgh 125,946 5,206,820 - 768,316 7,826,591 422,191 383,523 14,733,387
Fair Isle 2,273 - - - - - - 2,273
Foula 1,075 - - - - - - 1,075
Glasgow 208,684 3,704,978 - 535,716 3,527,728 314,001 536,202 8,827,309
Inverness 52,335 765,029 23 15,484 105,673 - - 938,544
Islay 35,106 190 - - - - - 35,296
Kirkwall 170,702 2,053 34 - 355 - - 173,144
Lerwick (Tingwall) 3,309 - - - - - - 3,309
North Ronaldsay 5,662 - - - - - - 5,662
Oban 373 - - - - - - 373
Papa Stour 35 - - - - - - 35
Papa Westray 4,835 - - - - - - 4,835
Glasgow Prestwick 52 163 - 694 636,948 127 - 637,984
Sanday 2,958 - - - - - - 2,958
Scatsta 60,557 - 50,454 - - - - 111,011
Stornoway 132,889 706 - - - - - 133,595
Stronsay 3,338 - - - - - - 3,338
Sumburgh 193,890 1,697 62,419 - 1,778 - - 259,784
Tiree 11,909 369 - - - - - 12,278
Westray 3,475 - - - - - - 3,475
Wick John O'Groats 12,990 39 - - - - - 13,029
Total 1,322,598 11,006,613 538,082 1,369,894 12,998,333 736,376 919,725 28,891,621

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, 2019
Airport International/UK Offshore Domestic 1 Total
Scheduled Charter Total Scheduled Charter Total
Aberdeen 832,880 527,668 1,360,548 1,446,183 106,012 1,552,195 2,912,743
Barra - - - 14,599 - 14,599 14,599
Benbecula - - - 34,656 - 34,656 34,656
Campbeltown - - - 7,975 - 7,975 7,975
Dundee - 282 282 20,470 165 20,635 20,917
Edinburgh 9,178,553 221,569 9,400,122 5,332,389 1,455 5,333,844 14,733,966
Glasgow 4,477,056 445,585 4,922,641 3,918,989 1,584 3,920,573 8,843,214
Glasgow Prestwick 635,889 2,261 638,150 - 825 825 638,975
Inverness 114,915 6,266 121,181 815,998 549 816,547 937,728
Islay - - - 34,771 - 34,771 34,771
Kirkwall 355 34 389 160,966 161 161,127 161,516
Lerwick (Tingwall) - - - 3,309 - 3,309 3,309
Scatsta - 50,386 50,386 - 59,023 59,023 109,409
Stornoway - 24 24 129,265 211 129,476 129,500
Sumburgh 1,581 62,616 64,197 161,225 41,998 203,223 267,420
Tiree - - - 11,944 - 11,944 11,944
Wick John O'Groats - - - 12,890 2 12,892 12,892
Total 15,241,229 1,316,691 16,557,920 12,105,629 211,985 12,317,614 28,875,534

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
  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Flights to/from UK origins / destinations numbers
Matched 64,086 58,282 58,404 56,926 55,314 54,580 58,822 57,931 58,314 57,117 58,653
Unmatched - actual 1 193 268 106 82 83 71 71 20 0 2 0
Unmatched - planned 2 365 1,083 274 257 224 212 285 - - - -
Percentage of flights late 3 percentages
early to 15 mins late 84 79 84 84 85 82 80 75 75 75 78
16 to 30 mins late 8 9 8 8 7 9 10 11 11 10 9
31 to 60 mins late 5 6 5 5 5 5 6 8 8 7 6
1 hr 1 min to 3 hrs late 3 5 3 3 3 4 4 6 5 6 5
3hrs 1 min to 6 hrs late 0 1 0 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 10 13 9 9 9 10 12 15 14 14 12
All flights (UK and international) numbers
Matched 100,408 94,863 99,823 97,645 98,670 96,292 102,038 110,276 116,771 118,725 121,258
Unmatched - actual 1 387 492 276 188 150 113 134 36 1 2 1
Unmatched - planned 2 575 2,061 552 312 275 260 394 - - - -
Percentage of flights late 3 percentages
early to 15 mins late 82 77 83 84 84 82 78 73 73 73 76
16 to 30 mins late 9 10 9 8 8 9 11 13 14 11 11
31 to 60 mins late 5 7 5 5 4 5 6 8 9 8 7
1 hr 1 min to 3 hrs late 3 5 3 3 3 3 4 5 5 5 4
3hr 1 min to 6 hrs late 0 1 0 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 11 15 10 9 9 9 12 15 15 15 13
Flights to/from UK origins / destinations numbers
Matched 51,934 47,933 46,214 47,010 46,137 47,175 50,524 51,293 52,683 49,193 46,319
Unmatched - actual 1 198 233 118 88 70 77 132 16 6 14 5
Unmatched - planned 2 274 763 305 240 205 229 247 - - - -
Percentage of flights late percentages
early to 15 mins late 85 80 85 85 84 83 77 77 77 75 78
16 to 30 mins late 7 8 7 7 7 8 10 10 10 8 9
31 to 60 mins late 4 6 4 4 5 5 7 7 7 7 6
1 hr 1 min to 3 hrs late 3 5 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 6 5
3hrs 1 min to 6 hrs late 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
more than 6 hrs late 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
minutes
Average delay 4 10 12 9 9 10 10 14 14 14 14 12
All flights (UK and international) numbers
Matched 73,262 68,291 69,507 71,637 71,901 73,396 79,618 83,691 88,246 83,312 77,535
Unmatched - actual 1 294 482 176 160 136 152 238 41 6 16 9
Unmatched - planned 2 330 1,175 393 297 252 262 314 - - - -
Percentage of flights late percentages
early to 15 mins late 82 77 83 83 83 82 76 75 75 75 77
16 to 30 mins late 8 9 8 8 8 9 11 11 12 10 10
31 to 60 mins late 5 7 5 5 5 5 7 8 8 7 7
1 hr 1 min to 3 hrs late 4 6 4 4 3 3 5 5 5 5 5
3hrs 1 min to 6 hrs late 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
more than 6 hrs late 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
minutes
Average delay 4 12 16 11 11 11 11 14 14 14 14 13

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, 2019 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 81,543 2,706 373 84,622 3,224 2,224 1,031 - 1 65 81 6,626 91,248
Barra 1,266 9 - 1,275 26 - - 72 - 16 - 114 1,389
Benbecula 3,182 162 2 3,346 12 5 - 62 - 59 - 138 3,484
Campbeltown 1,122 128 - 1,250 95 - - 216 - 262 - 573 1,823
Dundee 1,402 315 353 2,070 634 203 39,014 769 5 120 539 41,284 43,354
Edinburgh 127,017 1,480 10 128,507 15 20 - 2,989 16 70 - 3,110 131,617
Glasgow 80,383 1,517 18 81,918 409 3,707 5,291 - 2 114 371 9,894 91,812
Glasgow Prestwick 4,637 503 - 5,140 4,897 - 8,219 1,915 - 4,292 - 19,323 24,463
Inverness 16,065 1,809 483 18,357 2,078 128 8,772 1,187 - 70 746 12,981 31,338
Islay 2,056 240 - 2,296 16 - - 855 - 32 - 903 3,199
Kirkwall 12,291 836 38 13,165 259 354 - 443 - 12 14 1,082 14,247
Lerwick (Tingwall) 1,215 172 - 1,387 - - - 74 - - - 74 1,461
Scatsta 4,823 127 - 4,950 27 12 - - - - - 39 4,989
Stornoway 7,691 309 220 8,220 774 - - 294 - 156 - 1,224 9,444
Sumburgh 13,815 1,139 375 15,329 721 1,903 - 58 - 45 - 2,727 18,056
Tiree 1,579 9 2 1,590 31 2 - 177 - - - 210 1,800
Wick John O'Groats 1,691 738 4 2,433 488 200 - 891 - 52 - 1,631 4,064
Total 361,778 12,199 1,878 375,855 13,706 8,758 62,327 10,002 24 5,365 1,751 101,933 477,788

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, 2019 2
Airport Scheduled Charter Air taxi 1 movements Total
UK Operators Over seas Operators Total UK Operators Over seas Operators Total
Aberdeen 28,118 11,920 40,038 34,677 3,494 38,171 5,405 83,614
Barra 1,366 - 1,366 - - - 1 1,367
Benbecula 1,920 - 1,920 54 - 54 1,271 3,245
Campbeltown 1,064 - 1,064 - - - 129 1,193
Dundee 1,135 - 1,135 5 72 77 224 1,436
Edinburgh 78,211 47,457 125,668 1,291 376 1,667 640 127,975
Glasgow 61,245 15,417 76,662 2,392 222 2,614 2,117 81,393
Glasgow Prestwick 46 4,432 4,478 30 111 141 18 4,637
Inverness 11,228 1,184 12,412 218 103 321 3,563 16,296
Islay 2,021 - 2,021 - - 0 247 2,268
Kirkwall 11,248 - 11,248 8 - 8 1,563 12,819
Lerwick (Tingwall) 904 - 904 - - - 310 1,214
Scatsta - - - 4,820 - 4,820 - 4,820
Stornoway 5,750 - 5,750 124 2 126 2,026 7,902
Sumburgh 6,589 - 6,589 6,005 6 6,011 1,195 13,795
Tiree 1,600 - 1,600 - - - 113 1,713
Wick John O'Groats 1,396 - 1,396 - 1 1 402 1,799
Total 213,841 80,410 294,251 49,624 4,387 54,011 19,224 367,486

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
  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Aberdeen 106,366 99,419 92,287 99,452 104,227 106,755 112,537 106,755 86,735 85,727 84,674 83,614
Barra 1,262 1,199 1,178 1,183 1,319 881 888 881 1,322 1,397 1,392 1,367
Benbecula 4,145 4,292 3,965 3,912 3,958 3,286 3,013 3,286 3,194 3,211 3,369 3,245
Campbeltown 1,216 1,359 1,251 1,133 1,105 1,123 1,150 1,123 1,135 1,173 1,221 1,193
Dundee 3,910 4,159 3,838 3,033 2,872 1,543 1,407 1,543 1,651 1,392 1,429 1,436
Edinburgh 118,899 111,059 104,288 108,708 106,958 106,748 103,388 106,748 117,293 123,628 126,179 127,975
Glasgow 90,977 77,874 71,598 72,377 74,615 75,585 77,447 75,585 90,734 91,155 88,326 81,393
Glasgow Prestwick 20,427 15,496 13,135 10,017 8,166 8,623 6,659 8,623 4,698 5,076 4,869 4,637
Inverness 17,936 15,791 13,254 15,097 14,814 14,425 13,886 14,425 15,258 16,415 15,980 16,296
Islay 1,869 1,677 1,809 2,004 1,817 1,739 1,730 1,739 1,774 2,067 2,004 2,268
Kirkwall 14,121 13,849 12,945 12,599 12,400 12,951 12,935 12,951 12,927 13,488 13,335 12,819
Lerwick (Tingwall) 1,863 2,011 1,652 1,817 1,783 1,748 1,583 1,748 1,802 1,389 1,270 1,214
Scatsta 10,743 12,704 12,731 13,199 13,915 13,338 12,503 13,338 7,468 7,780 8,081 4,820
Stornoway 10,028 9,484 8,842 9,190 9,367 8,644 8,358 8,644 8,426 9,033 8,959 7,902
Sumburgh 9,812 8,435 8,237 9,156 10,963 13,606 14,677 13,606 17,534 16,881 11,627 13,795
Tiree 937 1,109 1,023 1,019 1,121 1,111 1,138 1,111 1,854 1,925 1,905 1,713
Unst - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wick John O'Groats 2,571 2,776 2,394 2,416 2,660 4,276 2,885 4,276 2,147 2,119 1,944 1,799
Total 417,082 382,693 354,427 366,312 372,060 376,382 376,184 376,382 375,952 383,856 376,564 367,486

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 8.12: Total aircraft movements, by airport 1
  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Aberdeen 119,831 109,876 102,396 108,862 115,013 118,219 124,282 118,219 96,156 97,007 91,279 91,248
Barra 1,310 1,356 1,252 1,258 1,403 966 988 966 1,345 1,412 1,439 1,389
Benbecula 4,660 4,779 4,402 4,366 4,478 3,708 3,504 3,708 3,648 3,420 3,650 3,484
Campbeltown 1,921 2,418 2,334 1,993 1,527 1,596 1,628 1,596 1,452 1,410 1,887 1,823
Dundee 36,297 39,274 37,169 36,815 40,926 40,427 35,730 40,427 36,730 38,096 39,965 43,354
Edinburgh 125,550 115,969 108,997 113,357 110,288 111,736 109,545 111,736 122,220 128,675 130,016 131,617
Glasgow 100,087 85,281 77,755 78,111 80,472 79,520 84,000 79,520 98,127 102,766 97,157 91,812
Glasgow Prestwick 42,708 34,230 33,087 28,546 25,670 24,305 25,643 24,305 25,714 24,897 24,904 24,463
Inverness 40,538 30,290 28,155 30,755 31,764 28,947 28,495 28,947 30,450 31,002 29,690 31,338
Islay 2,625 2,603 2,775 3,003 2,969 2,637 2,610 2,637 2,540 2,637 2,751 3,199
Kirkwall 15,982 15,590 14,535 14,131 13,980 14,403 14,420 14,403 14,539 14,754 14,771 14,247
Lerwick (Tingwall) 2,085 2,157 1,859 1,926 1,924 2,084 2,169 2,084 2,426 1,795 1,547 1,461
Scatsta 12,951 14,364 13,841 14,475 15,587 14,668 13,778 14,668 7,894 8,224 8,513 4,989
Stornoway 13,072 11,627 10,952 11,255 11,564 11,049 10,909 11,049 10,600 10,924 10,570 9,444
Sumburgh 14,758 12,159 11,118 12,228 14,045 16,771 18,171 16,771 21,129 22,347 16,628 18,056
Tiree 1,071 1,316 1,210 1,111 1,224 1,247 1,295 1,247 1,937 1,903 1,855 1,800
Unst - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wick John O'Groats 7,221 6,231 4,754 4,734 5,474 7,787 5,711 7,787 4,427 3,827 4,058 4,064
Total 542,667 489,520 456,591 466,926 478,308 480,070 482,878 480,070 481,334 495,096 480,680 477,788

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.

 

Table 8.13: Freight carried by airport 1
  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
tonnes
Aberdeen 3,822 4,211 5,311 6,166 7,102 6,278 6,545 5,731 5,870 5,706 5,986
Barra 3 34 29 29 27 26 21 19 15 15 14 13
Benbecula 3 564 531 466 475 457 310 313 339 346 366 390
Campbeltown 3 1 1 1 - 1 - - - - - -
Dundee - - - - - - - - - - -
Edinburgh 2 23,791 20,357 19,332 19,115 18,624 19,369 19,322 20,369 20,659 20,316 19,410
Glasgow 2 2,334 2,914 2,430 9,497 11,837 15,411 13,193 12,952 15,935 15,466 12,822
Glasgow Prestwick 13,385 12,163 11,846 10,314 9,526 12,540 11,242 10,822 11,393 13,003 13,054
Inverness 3 2,443 2,800 1,833 2,601 2,524 2,507 2,507 2,584 2,536 2,827 2,946
Islay 3 340 310 287 284 273 276 288 303 308 347 364
Kirkwall 3 646 777 132 97 103 107 94 97 246 1,054 1,101
Lerwick (Tingwall) - - - - - - - - - - -
Scatsta 752 765 808 873 849 788 702 456 490 449 275
Stornoway 3 1,641 1,630 1,659 1,704 1,752 1,200 1,173 1,153 1,271 1,330 1,294
Sumburgh 3 1,075 990 979 990 1,095 1,018 998 1,005 1,150 1,381 1,199
Tiree 3 56 52 49 57 55 52 44 53 44 50 60
Unst - - - - - - - - - - -
Wick John O'Groats 3 2 2 1 - 1 1 1 1 - - -
Total 50,886 47,532 45,162 52,200 54,225 59,878 56,441 55,880 60,263 62,308 58,914

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 aircraft below 15 tonnes Maximum 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
Airport International passengers Domestic passengers All services All
Business Leisure Business Leisure Business Leisure UK resid. Foreign resid.
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 passengers 2 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 terminal passengers: the latter also include transfer passengers (people who change aircraft at an airport).

 

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