Passenger numbers at Wick airport rise after first year of flights to Aberdeen
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Wick remains a key airport for the Highlands and Islands as passenger numbers rose due to the impact of scheduled passenger services in the last year.
New passenger figures for all 11 Highlands and Islands airports, released on Tuesday, show an upward trend towards pre-pandemic levels.
Regional airport operator Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) has reported a 10.4 per cent year-on-year increase in passenger numbers for the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year, from April to June 2023.
At Wick John O’Groats Airport, passenger numbers for the same period increased by 29.5 per cent to 2774.
Public service obligation flights operated by Eastern Airways between Wick and Aberdeen began on April 11, 2022. The airport had been without scheduled flights since early 2020 when Edinburgh and Aberdeen links were withdrawn.
Dougie Cook, general manager north for HIAL, said Wick had seen a slow but steady increase in passenger numbers since last April.
“We are encouraged by the increase in passenger numbers and the figures reflect the work by all parties involved in securing the PSO flights and restoring air connectivity for Caithness,” he said.
“Wick remains one of the key airports in the HIAL group and the increase in passenger numbers will hopefully encourage new business and tourism opportunities in the area.”
During the three months from April to June 2023, 425,222 people used the key regional airports in the HIAL network, as compared to 385,196 for the same period in 2022/23.
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The figures also represent 87.3 per cent of the level the 11 HIAL airports recorded pre-pandemic in 2019/20.
There were significant increases at Inverness (up by 17.6 per cent to 240,631 passengers), Campbeltown (up 17.1 per cent to 2071 passengers), Islay (up 14.1 per cent to 8747 passengers) and Tiree (up 10 per cent to 3802 passengers).
Figures at Kirkwall increased by 7.1 per cent to 37,221; Barra rose by 4.7 per cent to 3953; and Benbecula were up by 4.4 per cent to 8280.
Both Stornoway (down 0.3 per cent to 26,788) and Sumburgh (down 0.6 per cent to 81,262) recorded slight decreases during the three-month period, while Dundee Airport also recorded a drop in numbers from 10,435 in the same period in 2022/23 to 9688.
George Farquhar, director of airport operations for HIAL, said: “Leading into what is a hugely important 2023 tourist season, the new figures are encouraging and highlight the key role our people and airports continue to play to the Highland economy in providing vital connections to and from our iconic Highlands and Islands destinations.
“With almost 1.5 million people having passed through our 11 airports across the Highlands and Islands over the past 12 months, the economies in each of those areas will have benefited significantly from the added investment and spending they bring with them.”
