Air traffic in the UK is continuing to grow steadily, with air traffic management provider NATS reporting a rise of four per cent year-on-year in January.
The NATS London Area Control Centre at Swanwick in Hampshire recorded a three per cent increase, bringing the total number of flights to 148,181 and the London Terminal Control Centre showed three per cent growth to 107,881 flights.
There was a particularly marked increase in Scotland, where an increase of five per cent was recorded at Prestwick’s Scottish Area Control Centre, to 47,918 flights.
This demonstrates the health of Scottish air travel, which has been helped by the likes of Flyglobespan – a local airline that has expanded rapidly over the last year.
Elsewhere, growth was especially pronounced at some regional airports. At Farnborough air traffic grew by 29 per cent, at Cardiff by 18 per cent and at London City by 18 per cent.
New links at London City Airport include a twice daily flight to Rome by Air One, launched on January 8.
There was also strong growth in the transatlantic market, with arrivals and departures growing by 8 per cent and overflights increasing by seven per cent.
