Capital airport sees a slump in passengers

THE number of passengers using Edinburgh Airport fell again last month, but it remains the busiest airport in the country, according to operator BAA Scotland.

The total number of passengers using the country's main airports dropped – with just over 1.9 million passengers using Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports in September, down 6.6 per cent on the same month last year.

Domestic and international traffic fell as airlines reduced capacity in the wake of high fuel costs and slowing consumer demand. The collapse of Zoom Airlines and charter operators Futura and XL also had a bearing on international passenger numbers.

Edinburgh was the busiest airport in Scotland with 823,301 passengers in September, down 2.9 per cent on the previous year.

International traffic grew by 3.5 per cent while domestic traffic fell 7.6 per cent.

At Glasgow, passenger numbers fell 11 per cent to 786,273.

In the 12 months to September, the three airports handled almost 21 million passengers, down 1.6 per cent on last year.