 London airports were worst affected by the August alert |
The alleged terrorist threat to international air travel through London resulted in more people using Scottish airports, according to figures. In August, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports saw a 7.1% rise in international passengers on the same month last year, operator BAA said.
This was higher than the normally busier months of June and July.
However, the overall number of passengers fell by 0.4% to 1,957,232 - the first drop since March 1995.
Domestic traffic fell by 6.4%, with passenger numbers on London flights down 11% overall.
This was due to delays and cancellations after tighter security regulations were introduced following allegations of a terrorist threat, with London airports worst affected.
About 10% of flights from Scotland were cancelled during the first five days of the new security regime and those were mainly to London.
By day six however, flights had returned to normal.
Edinburgh Airport saw a 15.7% increase in international traffic as the city played host to the Edinburgh Festival. Overall, passenger numbers fell by 1.3% to 813,020, with a 12% fall in London traffic.
Glasgow Airport was Scotland's busiest airport with 864,708 passengers but a drop of 2.2% on August last year.
BAA said this was mainly due to a 12% drop in London passengers and a declining charter market, although international traffic grew slightly.
 Glasgow was Scotland's busiest airport, BBA said |
Aberdeen Airport was least affected by the disruption and saw passenger numbers rise by 8.1% to 279,504.
Domestic traffic grew by 2.1%, with London passengers also increasing by 2%, while international traffic jumped by 22.5% in August.
Stephen Baxter, managing director of BAA Scotland, said: "There is no denying that the past few weeks have been a difficult time for the UK aviation industry and clearly Scotland did not escape the disruption brought about by the new security restrictions.
"However, our airports were able to respond quickly and flexibly to a fast changing situation and worked hard to keep disruption to a minimum.
"We can be proud that only 10% of flights from Scotland were cancelled during this difficult time."
In the 12 months to August, BAA Scotland's airports handled 20.4 million passengers, up by 2.8 million on the previous year.
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We can be proud that only 10% of flights from Scotland were cancelled during this difficult time
