New international links, increased tourism and industrial activity are behind increasing passenger numbers using airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL).
Last month s figures were 7.8% up on May of last year.
The publicly owned HIAL is now set to build on the 1.17 million passengers using its airports last year and the 1.1 million in 2010. It may not match the 9.4 million, which accounted for Edinburgh Airport s £807m sale price earlier this month, but HIAL is pleased.
It says its traffic has been boosted by a growing demand for international flights to and from the Highlands and Islands.
In May a total of 114,366 passengers passed through HIAL s 11 airports, which stretch from Shetland in the north to Campbeltown and Islay in the south.
The busiest airport in the group, Inverness, reported an 8.4% rise in passenger numbers, with 55,519 passengers through the terminal last month.
According to the company, numbers were boosted by the continuing success of Flybe s Amsterdam service from the Highland capital and EasyJet s additional Gatwick flights. The latter also flies to Luton.
Seasonal flights to Dusseldorf by Lufthansa and Zurich by Helvetic also took off last month and are expected to boost inter-national traffic through the summer.
Meanwhile, a new code share agreement between Flybe and KLM announced last month means Inverness passengers can fly to about 150 worldwide destinations via Amsterdam.
At Sumburgh in the Shetlands, passenger numbers rose by 17.9%, boosted by increasing oil sector traffic, the launch of seasonal flights to Bergen in Norway, and strong growth on the Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow routes.
Passenger numbers were also up at Kirkwall, with growth on the Aberdeen and Edinburgh routes resulting in a 3.5% increase.
At Wick, additional oil sector movements generated a 9% rise in numbers, with Eastern Airways flying to Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The ongoing schools construction project at Stornoway increased passengers by 3.3%.
Loganair, in a franchise agreement with Flybe, flies to Benbecula, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness, as well as most other HIAL routes.
Eastern also offers an Aberdeen service from Stornoway.
On Islay, the success of this year s whisky festival fuelled a passenger increase of 13.4%.
At Campbeltown, golf-related charters since the opening of the Machrihanish Dunes course in 2009 and growth on the Glasgow route, increased passenger numbers by 41.8%. Additional scheduled flights increased passenger numbers at Barra by 19.4%.
On the downside, at Dundee, passenger numbers fell by 11.3% due to reduced capacity on CityJet s London City route, and a reduction in passengers on Flybe s Belfast and Birmingham routes. The reduction at Dundee was offset slightly by the earlier start this year of the Ramsay World Travel s Jersey charter route.
At Benbecula, passenger numbers were down marginally, by 0.6%.
Inglis Lyon, managing director for HIAL, said: The continuing success of our international services at Sumburgh and Inverness is good news for local business and leisure passengers.
The launch last month of a new code share agreement between Flybe and KLM means the Highland passengers now enjoy seamless global connections.
A growing international network is also good news for the regional economy, creating new opportunities for businesses and tourism providers across our network.
The domestic market is also continuing to perform strongly, with growing demand for flights to Scotland s main cities and London Gatwick, which has become an increasingly attractive alternative to congested Heathrow.
Copyright 2012 Newsquest Media GroupAll Rights Reserved
