More passengers travelled through tiny island airports than Dundee, shocking new figures have revealed.
The number of people flying from the city’s Riverside facility has almost halved in the last 12 months following a significant reduction in services, including the end of regular flights linking Dundee to Belfast and Birmingham.
An annual report by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited showed passenger numbers plummeted from 48,312 in 2012/13 to 26,774 last year.
In comparison Islay, which has a population of just 3,228, increased its annual traffic by 2% to 27,297 passengers.
Jenny Marra, Labour MSP for North East Scotland, attributed the drop to the “higher prices” of CityJet, which previously operated the route between Dundee and London.
This has since been taken over by Loganair’s FlyBe franchise and it launched a new service at the end of March, just as the report was being published.
Ms Marra said: “The figures are reflective of the old carrier as the prices were much higher, so there was some uncertainty.
“Securing a new carrier and the future of the connection has been good news for the city and the economy.”
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