Glasgow airport not affected by Flyglobespan collapse

Managers of Glasgow airport say the collapse of Scottish budget carrier Flyglobespan will have little impact on passenger numbers, while announcing a £25 million expansion plan.

The proposed upgrades to the airport will be spent over the next two years on improving road systems, building a new food court, installation of better runway lights and upgrading the terminal’s apron.

The main passenger terminal will also be refitted with improvements to the internal layouts of the main passenger terminal aimed at creating a more seamless passenger journey throughout the airport.

After 2009, when the economic crisis saw a big decline in the number of passengers, the failure of Scottish travel operator Globespan and low-cost carrier Flyglobespan, which used Glasgow for many flights, appeared to be another blow. However, yesterday a spokesman for the airport confirmed that capacity on a third of the 12 routes serviced by Flyglobespan had been taken up by other airlines, with a significant announcement on further routes to be made shortly.

Thomson Holidays, Thomas Cook and First Choice have all announced extra flights during the winter and summer seasons to traditional holiday destinations including Tenerife and Alicante. Virgin Atlantic, which uses a 747 jet to Orlando, Florida, a Flyglobespan destination, has also confirmed it will be adding an additional seven flights on the route in June and July.

A spokesman for the airport said that in the beginning of 2009 there was a 13 per cent drop in the number of passengers compared with the year before, but by November the figure was 4 per cent. She added that Flyglobespan was one of the airports smaller carriers, not in the top five.