Performance in brief

The year in review
2005/06 was a year of continued growth for Scotland’s airports. For the first time, the number of passengers using Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen Airports passed the 20 million mark, a reflection of the growing demand for air travel in Scotland. International traffic growth was particularly strong as more and more passengers chose to bypass the more congested airports of the south east and fly direct from Scotland.

Aberdeen was the fastest growing of BAA Scotland’s three airports, underlining its growing importance as a business and leisure hub for the north east of Scotland. Edinburgh enjoyed its busiest summer ever, as it played host to thousands of international visitors during the G8 Summit. A raft of new international services were introduced from the Capital. Meanwhile, Glasgow, voted Best UK Airport by leading holiday airline, Thomas Cook, enjoyed the busiest day in its history, with over 41,000 passengers at the start of the traditional Glasgow Fair.

BAA Scotland’s drive to improve Scotland’s connectivity resulted in 27 new services in 2005/06, many of them to new international destinations. And as passenger numbers grew, so too did investment in our airports. BAA Scotland invested more than £46 million on new passenger facilities, terminal and airfield developments, with the new Air Traffic Control Tower at Edinburgh Airport perhaps the most striking – and visible - example of BAA’s commitment  to Scotland.

2005/06 was also a year of unprecedented dialogue between BAA Scotland’s airports and their neighbours.

Consulting Scotland - Airport MasterPlans
In line with our commitment to engage more openly with our communities, each airport published a draft 25 year MasterPlan, outlining their ambitions for the future and released them for public consultation, the largest ever undertaken by BAA Scotland.

These wide ranging, three month, consultations saw airport managers engage with a variety of stakeholders, from the Scottish Executive to members of the public, and airport neighbours.

Currently BAA Scotland’s airports are preparing their revised MasterPlans. These will aim to address, wherever possible, the views and concerns expressed during the consultation and identified in an independently commissioned Liddell Thomson report. All three of the revised Airport MasterPlans are due to be published during the summer of 2006.

Financial performance
From a revenue of £185 million, the three airports generated an operating profit of £69 million, an increase of 7.8% on the previous year.

Passenger growth and air transport movements
BAA Scotland’s airports handled record numbers of passengers and continued to attract new airlines to Scotland.  In 2005/06, the number of air transport movements (landings and take-offs) increased by 6.7%