Airports group HIAL yesterday said it was attempting to secure new flights into Dundee after a year in which passenger numbers for the city plummeted.
The firm, responsible for 11 Scottish regional airports, yesterday published full-year figures showing 26,774 passengers used the Riverside facility over the past year.
The figure 44.6% lower than the 48,312 which passed through the gates in the comparable 12-month period in 2012/13 reflects the loss in December 2012 of two scheduled services to Belfast and Birmingham and a reduction in frequency of the remaining Cityjet flight to London City, which ceased operating at the end of last month.
For March, passengers numbers at Dundee came in at 1,660, a 26% drop off on the 2,242 seen a year earlier.
Despite the reduction in passengers, HIAL said it remained committed to securing new business for the city and hailed the establishment of the newtwice-daily Dundee to London Stansted flights which began operating late last month.
However, the Flybe-branded service, which has received the seal of approval of television star and regular passenger Lorraine Kelly, is only a stopgap while a tender process is completed to identify a permanent operator for the Dundee-to-London service.
HIAL chief executive Inglis Lyon said the Stansted link had provided business and leisure passengers with easy access to the UK capital and onward international destinations, and the focus was now on securing further services for Dundee.
Mr Lyon said: “We have worked hard to secure a new London service for Dundee, following the withdrawal of CityJet, and we are working closely with Transport Scotland, Dundee City Council and other partners to secure new business for the airport.”
Across the group as a whole, passenger numbers increased by almost 70,000 during the year to 1.36 million, with last month’s tally climbing 1.3% on the March 2013 total of 103,616.
Activity through the oil hub of Sumburgh took off, with a 32.2% increase in passengers to 287,525.
Wick also saw strong year-on-year growth, with a 21.7% uplift in passengers to 41,281.
Inverness, the airport where HIAL has its HQ, was slightly ahead of the previous year.
However, those gains were partially offset by the double-digit passenger falls seen at Benbecula, Barra and Dundee.
Mr Lyon said the group, which employs around 500 staff and is wholly owned by Scottish Ministers, had made good progress during the year.
“Last year was our best ever in passenger terms, with the group exceeding the 1.3 million mark for the first time. We owe much of this success to HIAL’s capacity to attract new energy-related business, particularly at Wick John o’ Groats and Sumburgh,” said Mr Lyon.
However, he acknowledged there had also been significant challenges.
“The picture is less encouraging at some of our smaller airports, such as Barra and Benbecula, where changes to the inter-island schedule have had a significant impact on passenger numbers.
“These airports nevertheless play a vital social and economic role in the communities they serve.”