New flights and renewed offshore activity, despite the oil and gas downturn, boosted passenger numbers for Highlands and Islands Airports (Hial) during the quarter to June 30.
The number of people using its 11 airports swelled to 421,678, an increase of more than 9% on the same period last year, while the figure for June alone was up nearly 17%.
Hial managing director Inglis Lyon said significant investment in new services earlier this year was paying dividends.
He added: “It is pleasing to see that demand for most services at the majority of our airports continues to be high.
“Inverness is reaping the rewards of the recently-restored link to London Heathrow and the new KLM Amsterdam link, while Dundee’s new flights to Amsterdam have resulted in a marked increase in passenger traffic.
“However, there remains much work to do to ensure these services maintain momentum through the off-peak.”
Just over 210,000 passengers flew to and from Inverness Airport during the three months to June 3, a near-13% year-on-year increase.
The terminal was boosted by new services to Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol in May, while a new connection to Geneva is scheduled to take off in November.
Offshore activity in the seas around Shetland drove a 12.1% increase at Sumburgh Airport during the quarter.
It was used by 87,458 passengers, with numbers boosted by start-up from Total’s Laggan-Tormore development and Premier Oil’s Solan field.
Kirkwall Airport in Orkney was up by 3.7% at 49,077, while the terminals on Tiree and Barra both benefited from increased frequencies with new aircraft.
Passenger numbers on Tiree soared by 48% to 3,359, while Barra saw a 26.4% rise to 3,724.
Wick John O’Groats and Stornoway airports both recorded a fall, which Hial said was due to restructuring of energy sector demand for services to and from Aberdeen.
Wick’s figure was off by more than a quarter (25.6%), compared with a year ago, at 6,459, while Stornoway was down by 5% at 32,875.
Hial said the withdrawal of additional summer scheduled flights contributed to a fall of 3.2% to 8,488 on Islay.
Passenger numbers at Dundee Airport rocketed by 69% to 9,040, helped by the June total more than doubling, after growth on its London Stansted service and the launch of new flights to Amsterdam.
Mr Lyon said: “More and more of these visitors are choosing to travel through our airports, thanks to our strong connections with each area and our range of competitive routes.
“Continued interest in smaller island airports such as Barra – which celebrates its 80th anniversary later this year – underlines the importance of our air links to some of Scotland’s most remote communities.”
