Despite the credit crunch and current economic climate, it seems that Scottish travellers have not been put off their overseas travel.

Figures show that overseas flights passengers from Aberdeen increased by 1.3% year on year in June.

Amongst the most popular destinations were Paris, Amsterdam and Stavanger.  The greatest growth in figures were those passengers travelling to Barcelona.

In total, more than 302,000 passengers travelled through Aberdeen airport in June.  This was a slight frop of 1.9% compared to June 2007, it still brought the total traffic for 2008 to date to 1.6 million passengers, an increase on the year to date figures from 2007.

Managing Director of Aberdeen Airport, Kevin Brown, said:

“With the summer schedule well underway, I am very pleased to see an increasing number of passengers now choosing to fly from their local airport to some of Europe’s most popular sunshine destinations.  The trend at Aberdeen is towards continued growth, particularly in the international market.”

flights from Aberdeen airport are available with airlines suc as bmi, SAS and Flybe and travel to many destinations including Esbjerg, Berlin and Copenhagen.

In 2009, Scotland will celebrate its first ever ‘homecoming year’, marking the 250th anniversary of the Scottish poet’s birth, Robert Burns.

On Monday 16th June, the programme of events was unveiled at Edinburgh Castle.  The plan includes Scottish clan gatherings, contemporary art exhibitions and more.

Burns Night weekend of the 24th - 25th January will kickstart the celebrations with parties across the country, including the birthplace of Burns, Ayrshire.

Glasgow will be hosting the Celtic Connections festival for almost a month from 24th January to 1st February, celebrating Burn’s influence on the celtic music.

A huge art exhibition will be at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library from April to September, including old and new artists.

The project director for Homecoming Scotland, Marie Christie, said the programme was the beginning of many more events and celebrations to come, and said:

“‘We think there is something in the programme for everyone and we hope Scots, and those who love Scotland, at home and abroad will join the celebrations in 2009.”

If you’re looking for a cheap holiday or short break, you could do a lot worse than visiting the historic city of Edinburgh.

Overlooking the city is the dominant figure of Edinburgh Castle, steeped in history dating back to the eleventh century, situated on Castle Rock.  The castle actually sits on an extinct volcano!

Back in the eleventh century, the castle was the royal residence of Queen Margaret and King Malcolm Canmore.  Reportedly, Queen Margaret built St Margarets Chapel when she first moved to the castle and the Chapel is one of the oldest roofed buildings in Scotland. (more…)