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Last year I made a series of presentations about market share across Scotland to the ten largest inbound tourist markets as identified by Visit Scotland. Now that 2024 has concluded and we have a years worth of data I thought it would be a good idea to revisit each of these markets in a bit more detail.
A disclaimer is needed here, I have done this from an airport neutral point of view, and it is very important to remember that just because a load factor is high, that does not necessarily mean that yields are high.
This particular post is focusing specifically on the Scotland-Italy market, which is the ninth largest inbound tourism market for Scotland.
For those unfamiliar with the route networks and airlines below is a summary of the routes and airlines that operated flights in 2024;
- Edinburgh to Bari with Ryanair
- Edinburgh to Bergamo with Ryanair
- Edinburgh to Bologna with Ryanair
- Edinburgh to Catania with easyJet
- Edinburgh to Florence with British Airways CityFlyer
- Edinburgh to Milan Malpensa with easyJet
- Edinburgh to Naples with Jet2 and Ryanair
- Edinburgh to Olbia with British Airways CityFlyer
- Edinburgh to Palermo with Ryanair
- Edinburgh to Pisa with Ryanair
- Edinburgh to Rome Ciampino with Ryanair
- Edinburgh to Rome Fiumicino with Jet2
- Edinburgh to Turin with Jet2
- Edinburgh to Venice with easyJet and Ryanair
- Edinburgh to Verona with Jet2
- Glasgow to Bologna with British Airways CityFlyer on behalf of Royal Caribbean
- Glasgow to Naples with Jet2 and TUI
- Glasgow to Rome Fiumicino with Jet2
- Glasgow to Turin with TUI
- Glasgow to Verona with Jet2 and TUI
- Prestwick to Pisa with Ryanair
To try and simplify this articles format I will do a general section which will provide a holistic overview of the market, then I will provide sections for each airports performance.
If you are only interested in a specific market segment use the list below to jump to the relevant section;
- Passenger Numbers By Month
- Passenger Numbers By Year
- Market Share Per Airport
- Route Specific Numbers
- Previously Served Destinations
Passenger Numbers By Month
As the above graph shows, there is no month when a single airport has sole occupancy in the Italian market, with at least two airports having year round services – in this particular case it is Glasgow and Edinburgh airports as Glasgow has year round service to Rome Fiumicino.
Despite this, Edinburgh Airport is clearly the market leader when it comes to Italian flights, however, it is clear that the market suffers from a high level of seasonality, with passenger numbers falling significantly in the winter season.
For 2024 it is also worth pointing out that both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports benefited from additional flights to Rome as Scotland played Italy in the Six Nations in March.
February also benefited from being a leap-year, introducing an extra day of flying that will not exist this year.
Passenger Numbers By Year
In 2024, the Italian market continued to grow from Scotland as a whole, with passenger numbers being above 2019 levels for the second year in a row.
As will be explored later in this post, the market share held by each airport has fluctuated since then, and will continue to do so throughout 2025.
Market Share Per Airport
Note: 2020 and 2021 figures were heavily impacted by Covid-19, thus cannot be used for any serious comparison.
As can be seen from the graph above, the Italian market appears to be a story of two parts.
Before the pandemic, Edinburgh Airport was increasing its market share while both Glasgow and Prestwick airports were reducing. However, post pandemic the opposite has been true, with Glasgow increasing and Edinburgh reducing.
In 2024 Edinburgh’s market share reduced from 88.92% to 86.88% despite a rise in passenger numbers – this has been caused by a faster rise in numbers in Glasgow which increased its market share from 8.34% to 10.74% over the same period.
Market share at Prestwick airport also reduced slightly from 2.73% to 2.38%.
Remember that despite market share falling at Edinburgh Airport, its passenger numbers increased. When market share is being calculated its impacted more by the percentage increase of the overall market (attributed to all airports) and then the rise at each airport.
When the above is factored into the market share equation its clear to see why statistics can be confusing;
- Edinburgh’s passenger numbers increased by 9.81%
- Glasgow’s passenger numbers increased by 44.65%
- Prestwick’s passenger numbers decreased by 2.16%
Although Glasgow’s increase was from a much smaller number, it was still enough of an increase to benefit its market share % compared to other airports.
Route Specific Numbers
To keep this post to a reasonable length, any routes that have only seen service from one Scottish airport since 2015 will not have a graph, but rather a table outlining passenger numbers per year.
Bari
This route commenced operations in 2022 and is operated by Ryanair from Edinburgh airport, no other Scottish airport has had this route.
| Year | Passenger Numbers |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 19,510 |
| 2023 | 20,768 |
| 2024 | 21,916 |
Passenger numbers on this route have grown year-on-year, and the route continues to operate on a summer seasonal basis from Edinburgh Airport with Ryanair in 2025.
The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport for Summer 2025 shows a very slight reduction in seats in planned in 2025;
- Ryanair will continue to have 120 movements (60 round trips) this summer, however seats will reduce slightly from 22,952 to 22,680 – a reduction of 272.
- This suggests that 34 of the 120 movements will be operated by the slightly smaller Boeing 737-800 with 189 seats compared to the larger Boeing 737-8-200 which has 197 seats.
Bologna
Disclaimer: As the Glasgow route is operated as a cruise charter flight not open to bookings from the general public I will not do a breakdown in market share data as this would be unfair and introduce a bias towards Edinburgh Airport.
Passenger numbers at Edinburgh Airport are slightly (117 to be exact) below 2019 levels, however, something as simple as a flight cancellation at any point in 2024 will have impacted this – so this route is for all purposes at its pre-covid capacity.
Looking ahead to 2025, the “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport shows the following:
- Ryanair will reduce their movements from 206 to 120 (this means going from 103 round trips to 60) i.e. a reduction from 3 to 2 weekly flights.
- Seats will reduce from 39,814 to 23,160 – equating to a 42% reduction in available seat capacity.
- Ryanair UK will however operate flights in 2025 going from 0 to 60 movements (30 round trips)
- This will introduce 11,340 Ryanair UK seats in 2025 that did not operate in 2024.
When both Ryanair and Ryanair UK changes are combined the total market overview for 2025 is as follows;
| Year | Movements | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 180 | 34,500 |
| 2024 | 206 | 39,814 |
| Change | -26 | –5,314 |
As you can see, both movements and seats are planned to reduce in 2025 based on current schedules.
For Glasgow Airport, the following changes are planned to take place;
- British Airways CityFlyer will reduce from 40 to 36 movements (20 to 18 round trips).
- Seats will also reduce from 4,240 to 3,816 – equating to a 10% reduction in seats.
Catania
This route commenced operations in 2023 and is operated by easyJet from Edinburgh airport, no other Scottish airport has had this route.
| Year | Passenger Numbers |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 11,292 |
| 2024 | 20,785 |
Passenger numbers on this route have grown year-on-year, and the route continues to operate on a summer seasonal basis from Edinburgh Airport with easyJet in 2025, with Jet2 also commencing flights from Edinburgh in May.
The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport for Summer 2025 shows the following changes in capacity;
- easyJet will continue to operate 120 movements (60 round trips) across the summer season.
- The number of seats will remain the same at 22,320, indicating a twice weekly service with an Airbus A320
- Jet2 will operate 56 movements (28 round trips) across the summer season.
- This new service will introduce a further 10,584 seats to the Catania market – indicating a weekly service on a Boeing 737-800.
When both easyJet and Jet2 figures are combined it shows a total of 176 movements will operate – an increase of 56 – which will provide a total of 32,904 seats.
Florence
This route operated in 2018 and 2019 before being suspended as a result of the pandemic, operations recommenced in summer 2022, with all flights departing from Edinburgh Airport.
| Year | Passenger Numbers |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 3,499 |
| 2019 | 6,844 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 10,840 |
| 2023 | 10,538 |
| 2024 | 11,008 |
Passenger numbers on this route have exceeded pre-covid numbers, and have remained relatively stable in the three years it has operated post-covid.
The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport for Summer 2025 show the following for the Florence route;
- British Airways CityFlyer will reduce their movements from 122 to 120 – resulting in the loss of 1 round trip this summer.
- The number of seats will also reduce by 180 from 12,900 to 12,720 indicating a twice weekly service on an Embraer E190.
Milan
Milan is one of the more complex markets thanks to it having three airports serving it. I will provide an overview of passenger numbers to the Milan airports combined, then provide more details on each one separately.
Despite the recent successes of Edinburgh Airport in growing its flights to Milan, it is interesting to note that the airport has not surpassed it’s 2019 passenger numbers, and Scotland as a whole is still below its 2018 figure.
Below is a breakdown of Bergamo, then Linate, then Malpensa airports, all of which serve Milan to provide some more context to the above graph.
Bergamo
Flights to Bergamo commenced in 2017 and the route is operated by Ryanair from Edinburgh Airport.
Passenger numbers to Bergamo have significantly exceeded 2019 levels, and have grown year on year since the pandemic related travel restrictions ended.
Ryanair is the sole operator of this route and has been able to utilise its Maltese based subsidiary “Malta Air” to operate flights using Bergamo based aircraft, as well as using Edinburgh based aircraft operated by Ryanair.
The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport for Summer 2025 show the following for the Bergamo route;
- Ryanair will increase the number of movements from 418 to 438 (209 round trips increasing to 219)
- This change will increase the number of seats available on Ryanair from 81,194 to 84,366.
Linate
Milan Linate was operated for a limited season by Alitalia in 2019, these flights coincided with the Edinburgh Festival.
In 2019 a total of 1,556 passengers travelled between Edinburgh and Linate.
In 2025 easyJet Europe will open a new base at Linate airport and launch daily flights to Edinburgh.
- easyJet Europe will operate 420 movements (210 round trips) between Linate and Edinburgh, providing 78,000 seats.
Malpensa
Since 2015 Malpensa has been the only Milan airport to see service to more than one Scottish Airport – with Edinburgh and Glasgow both having flights for a limited period. Since 2019 the route has operated exclusively from Edinburgh Airport with easyJet.
Edinburgh and Glasgow had flights to Malpensa simultaneously from late 2015 until late 2018, however, when easyJet flights ended in 2018 there was no sudden jump in Edinburgh passenger numbers – even Bergamo remained relatively flat.
Milan Malpensa is the noticeable outlier in the wider Milan market, with passenger numbers significantly below 2019 levels, unlike Bergamo. Not only are passenger numbers down, they are expected to further reduce in 2025.
- easyJet Europe will reduce from 416 movements to 320 movements (208 to 160 round trips).
- As a result, available seats will reduce from 75,436 to 56,952
Naples
For me if somebody was to ask for a case study in Edinburgh Airports success in the European market compared to Glasgow then Naples is my answer.
Yes, Covid disrupted the travel industry in unimaginable ways, but the speed at which Edinburgh not only recovered its passenger numbers, but exceeded them leaves Glasgow in the dust.
Looking ahead to summer 2025 the following changes are planned at Edinburgh Airport;
- Jet2 will increase their movements slightly from 108 to 110 (54 to 55 round trips)
- As a result, the number of seats will increase from 20,412 to 20,790
- Ryanair will increase their movements from, 60 to 120 (increasing from 30 to 60 round trips).
- As a result the number of seats will increase from 11,820 to 22,680.
- Movements increase by 100% whereas seats increase by 92% suggesting Ryanair will use the smaller 737-800 on more flights.
- As a result the number of seats will increase from 11,820 to 22,680.
Ryanair UK will not operate any flights this summer, reducing from 60 to 0 movements, with 11,340 seats removed.
When all the airline changes are totalled together the overview looks as follows;
- Movements will increase from 228 to 230 however, seats will reduce slightly from 43,572 to 43,092
Olbia
This route commenced operations in 2024 from Edinburgh Airport and is operated by British Airways CityFlyer.
| Year | Passenger Numbers |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2,162 |
As this route only started in 2024 it is obviously impossible to compare it to previous years, however, the route will continue to operate in 2025.
The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport for Summer 2025 show the following for the Olbia route;
- British Airways CityFlyer will increase from 24 to 36 movements (12 to 18 round trips).
- Seats will also increase from 2,544 to 3,816 – equating to a 50% increase in seats.
Furthermore, easyJet will also commence service on this route in Summer 2025 further increasing the number of seats available;
- easyJet will offer 102 movements (51 round trips) which will provide 18,972 seats.
When both airlines schedules are combined the following changes will occur in 2025 compared to 2024;
| Year | Movements | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 138 | 22,788 |
| 2024 | 24 | 2,544 |
| Change | +114 | +20,244 |
Palermo
This route commenced operations in 2021 and is currently only offered from Edinburgh Airport, with Ryanair being the sole operator of flights.
| Year | Passenger Numbers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,794 |
| 2022 | 28,099 |
| 2023 | 28,801 |
| 2024 | 20,781 |
Passenger numbers on this route appears to have settled in 2022 and 2023 before reducing by just under a third last year.
Ryanair appears to have reduced flights in 2024 when compared to previous years, potentially redirecting the aircraft to a more profitable route, or moving the flights to another route that faces increased competition from another carrier – pure speculation of course.
The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport for Summer 2025 show the following for the Palermo route;
- Ryanair will continue to operate 120 movements (60 round trips).
- Seats will slightly increase from 23,016 to 23,160 – equating to an additional 144 seats.
- This implies that 18 movements will see the larger Boeing 737-8-200 with 197 seats compared to the Boeing 737 800 which is equipped with 189.
- Seats will slightly increase from 23,016 to 23,160 – equating to an additional 144 seats.
Pisa
Pisa is unusual, not only in the Italian market, but in the wider European network from Scotland as it has service from Edinburgh and Prestwick, with nothing having operated from Glasgow during the same period.
The Scotland-Pisa market has exceeded 2019 levels and appears to be, at least in the case of Edinburgh, undoing its pre-covid trend of declining passenger numbers.
Ryanair is the only airline flying from Scotland to Pisa, and operates the services from both Scottish airports.
The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport for Summer 2025 show the following changes for their route;
- Ryanair will reduce from 294 to 224 movements (147 to 112 round trips) – equating to a 24% reduction in movements.
- The number of available seats will reduce from 56,478 to 42,336 – equating to a 25% reduction in available capacity.
At Prestwick Airport, no “Start of Season Report” is available, however, Ryanair will continue to operate a 2x weekly service from the airport – meaning movements and seats should be roughly the same as 2024.
Rome
Rome is another one of the complex markets thanks to it having two airports serving it. I will provide an overview of passenger numbers to the Rome airports combined, then provide more details on each one separately.
When the entire Rome market is taken into consideration, Scotland did not exceed 2019 levels until 2024. Even then, it was only as a result of Jet2 starting Edinburgh-Rome that numbers surpassed 2019 levels – without this route it is not certain that achievement would have been made.
Below is a breakdown of Ciampino airport then Fiumicino airport.
Ciampino
In 2019 Prestwick had a twice weekly seasonal service to Rome Ciampino which has not returned since the pandemic, this route was operated by Ryanair.
Edinburgh Airport has a year round service which has exceeded 2019 levels, however passenger numbers declined by 5.3% in 2024 compared to 2023, this route is operated by Ryanair.
In summer 2025 only the route from Edinburgh to Ciampino will operate, with the recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport showing Ryanair plans the following changes this summer;
- Ryanair will increase the number of movements from 360 to 420 (increasing from 180 round trips to 210) – this equates to a 17% increase.
- The number of seats available will increase from 70,248 to 81,780
Fiumicino
Rome Fiumicino is operated by Jet2 from both Edinburgh and Glasgow, and both routes operate on the same days at pretty much the same timings, somewhat poking holes in the argument made by some that once a route operates in one airport it cannot operate from another successfully.
The trend of same day and times will continue throughout 2025, however, Jet2 will move its Glasgow flights to different days in 2026.
The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport shows the following with regards to movements and seats;
- Jet2 will remain at 120 movements and will also remain at 22,680 seats.
The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Glasgow Airport shows the following with regards to movements and seats;
- Jet2 will remain at 120 movements and will also remain at 22,680 seats.
Turin
Turin is slightly more unusual as both Edinburgh and Glasgow only have winter seasonal flights.
Flights from Edinburgh are operated by Jet2 who intend to end their winter 2024/2025 season a week early when compared to the year before.
Flights from Glasgow are operated by TUI who will operate the same number of flights as they did last year.
It should be noted that after Ryanair ended their Edinburgh-Turin route passenger numbers on that route fell significantly.
Venice
Venice is the final of the destinations that has more than one airport serving it, with Ryanair historically serving Treviso easyJet serving Marco Polo, however, Ryanair moved their flights to Marco Polo in 2023.
Below is an overview of the combined Venice passengers numbers, followed by an overview of each airport individually.
Before I pulled the data together for this post I was able to work out what most of the route data was going to reveal, however, Venice has taken me by surprise as I expected passenger numbers to be much higher, showing that despite the flights being consolidated it does not mean passenger numbers will transport over to the beneficiary airport.
Treviso
Treviso was exclusively operated by Ryanair until 2023 when the airline moved their flights to Venice Marco Polo.
Venice Marco Polo
Venice Marco Polo has always been the primary gate way for flights from Scotland to Venice, with both easyJet and Ryanair operating flights here.
Despite he centralisation of flights at both the Scottish and Italian ends of the route, it is very interesting to see that the Scottish market has not recovered to 2019 levels, and even Edinburgh, which finds itself as the sole airport with Venice flights trails below 2019 levels.
As for summer 2025, the recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport shows the following for movements and seats;
- easyJet Europe will not operate any flights this summer, this means a reduction of 40 movements and 6,240 seats
- easyJet UK will continue to operate 120 movements and providing 22,320 seats, exactly the same as 2024.
- Ryanair will increase from 120 to 248 movements (a 107% increase) and will increase the number of seats available from 23,224 to 47,832 (a 106% increase)
- Ryanair UK will not operate any flights this summer, this means a reduction of 60 movements and 11,340 seats.
When all of the above changes are combined, Venice will see an additional 8 movements and an additional 7,208 seats.
Although the rise in movements is much lower than the rise in seats, the latter has been achieved by airlines using larger aircraft on individual flights.
Verona
For enthusiasts of Glasgow Airport here is the route you have been waiting for. Not only are passenger numbers higher at Glasgow, but Glasgow is the only airport to have exceeded 2019 levels.
Services from Edinburgh Airport only operate during the summer and are operated by Jet2, who for summer 2025 have made the following changes;
- Jet2 will increase from 102 to 108 movements – representing a 6% increase.
- The number of seats available will increase from 19,278 to 22,218 – representing a 15% increase – achieved by the use of larger A321 aircraft on some flights.
Services from Glasgow Airport operate for most of the year (April, October and November excluded), with Jet2 and TUI both operating flights.
- Jet2 will increase from 42 to 44 movements, and seats will increase from 7,938 to 8,316, a 5% increase for both metrics.
- TUI will increase from 75 to 76 movements, and seats will increase from 14,175 to 14,364, a 1% increase for both metrics.
Previously Served Destinations
Only one destination that was served before the pandemic has not returned, that being Genoa which operated on a limited charter programme from Glasgow Airport until 2018.
The passenger numbers for that route are in the table below;
| Year | Passenger Numbers |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 1409 |
| 2016 | 4418 |
| 2017 | 0 |
| 2018 | 3406 |
About The Author
George Nugent is an independent travel writer focused on honest reviews of rail, air, and coach journeys in the UK, Europe, and USA. Passionate about statistics and clear reporting, George shares insights to help travellers make informed choices.
George Nugent Travels 
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