Record Christmas Flights From Scotland

A record number of Scots are expected to jet off to the sun this Christmas to escape the winter chill, it has emerged.

More than 500,000 passengers will fly in and out of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports during the festive season.

Traditional sunspots such as Tenerife, Alicante and Malaga are among this year's top 10 Christmas destinations, according to airport operator BAA.

The Middle East is also emerging as a favourite getaway for passengers, with Emirates' daily service from Glasgow to Dubai also entering the Christmas top 10 for the first time.

Glasgow Airport manager Graham Latta said: "It seems passengers have every corner of the globe covered this year, with demand for long-haul travel especially strong.

"Passengers are much more adventurous than they were just a few years ago, so while the traditional sunspots like Tenerife as are popular as ever, more and more people are travelling even further afield this Christmas."

This Friday is expected to be the busiest day of the festive season with 23,000 passengers travelling. An estimated 116,000 passengers are expected to travel in the days leading up to Christmas Day.

A further 106,000 passengers will travel between Christmas Day and Hogmanay. Several UK destinations also make the top 10, including London, Belfast, Birmingham and Bristol.

Amsterdam and Dublin are among the most popular European city breaks this Christmas. It also appears that passengers are getting into the Christmas spirit.

BAA says an estimated 30,000 pints of beer and lager, and 2,000 bottles of wine will be served throughout December as passengers unwind before their flights.