Figures released by Aberdeen International Airport have shown that 237,893 passengers travelled through the airport in November, a decrease of 4.1% compared to the same month last year.
International and domestic traffic was down 6.8% and 1.6% respectively, with helicopter traffic down 8.5%.
Carol Benzie, managing director of Aberdeen International Airport, said: “Whilst we did experience a year-on-year decrease in passenger numbers in November as a result of the continued North Sea oil downturn, it was the smallest drop we’ve experienced in many months, which gives me cautious optimism that we may see numbers begin to improve in the New Year, particularly with the exciting new routes and services we are due to launch.
“Both airBaltic and Ryanair are due to return in 2017 with new flights to our passengers’ most requested destinations, and Loganair announced just last week that it will launch a link between Aberdeen and the stunning Faroe Islands next summer.”
New routes and services secured in 2016 include:
Airline
|
Destination
|
Start date
|
Icelandair
|
Reykjavik
|
March 16
|
Thomson
|
Gran Canaria
|
April 16
|
Wizz Air
|
Warsaw
|
May 16
|
Flybe
|
Newquay
|
May 16
|
Ryanair
|
Alicante
|
February 17
|
Ryanair
|
Malaga
|
February 17
|
Ryanair
|
Faro
|
May 17
|
AirBaltic
|
Riga
|
May 17
|
Loganair
|
Vagar, Faroe Islands
|
May 17
|
Low-cost carrier airBaltic will operate three flights a week to the Latvian capital from May to September 2017.
Ryanair has announced that it will also return to Aberdeen in February with year-round twice-weekly flights to Alicante, Malaga and Faro, three of the most requested routes in a leisure survey carried out by the airport earlier this year.