PLANE tickets from Glasgow to the Greek island of Corfu have gone on sale for under £80 as airport chiefs celebrate their best July in five years.

More than 830,000 passengers passed through the airport last month - which was almost 45,000 more than July last year.

Jubilant airport bosses say it was their best July since 2008 with the bumper figures underlining a great summer, as revealed in last night's Evening Times. June too was the busiest in five years with more than 826,000 passengers.

Amanda McMillan, managing director, said: "The summer season is always a busy time for the airport but there has been a marked increase in the number of people choosing to fly from Glasgow over the course of the past two months.

"We have enjoyed consistent passenger growth since January 2011 which underlines the progress we are making in terms of securing new routes and services.

"It is particularly pleasing to see our domestic traffic perform so well and with Glasgow hosting events such as the World Pipe Band Championships and UDO World Street Dancing Championship, we are looking forward to a busy August."

The airport's success was today praised by Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. He said: "A growth in passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport has been extremely impressive and much of this success is down to the hard work of Amanda McMillan and her team."

And in a further boost, budget airline Jet2.com today announced the launch of new flights to Corfu next summer with tickets costing £78 going on sale from today.

Next summer also sees the airline launching new flights to the neighbouring island of Zante as well as the Spanish city of Reus and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. One-off flights to take Christmas shoppers to Cologne and New York has seen the airline treble its original destinations since flying out of Glasgow two years ago to 24.

Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: "Glasgow Airport is a key base for us which is why we are committed to continuing to expand our range of destinations."

Francois Bourienne, commercial director at Glasgow Airport, said: "Jet2.com has established itself as one of Glasgow's favourite airlines and the addition of Corfu to its already extensive route network is great news for customers."

The Evening Times also told yesterday how holiday giant Thomson planned to launch a third Dreamliner service from Glasgow next summer to the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has already flown 4500 holidaymakers from the airport to Cancun in Mexico and Orlando in Florida.

gordon.thomson@eveningtimes.co.uk