Thousands of travellers are set to benefit from free travel on the Scottish Citylink Glasgow Airport shuttle bus service as part of a £50,000 initiative which launches on Wednesday, 22nd September.

The express coach company is set to give away 10,000 tickets during September and October to encourage car users to switch to public transport for their trip to and from the airport.

Researchers will identify travellers in target groups such as members of the local business and distribute the tickets for the route, which has already enjoyed strong growth in the past year.

The initiative is being supported by BAA and is in line with its Surface Access Strategy objectives which aim to increase the use of public transport to and from the airport by 12% to 2006.

Figures show that of the 7.7million people who used the airport in 2002, only 8.5% used public transport, in comparison with 60% who used the car and 26% who travelled by taxi.

Scottish Citylink Marketing Manager, Paul Murphy, said: “We are delighted to support BAA in obtaining its’ strategy objective by providing a fast and frequent service between the airport and the city centre.

"This route has seen usage increase by 13% last year and through this initiative we hope to encourage more people to switch to coach travel."

With passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport on the rise, Managing Director Stephen Baxter said he backed moves to encourage greater use of public transport.

He said: “We welcome the launch of this initiative. It’s vital that we provide a range of travel options for passengers flying to and from Scotland’s busiest airport, and encourage more people to use public transport, whenever possible.”

Scottish Citylink customers in the capital also enjoyed free travel on Monday when the express coach operator supported Edinburgh Free Travel Day.

Any businesses wishing to benefit from the initiative should contact Colin Stoddart on 0141 332 9644 or e-mail c.stoddart@citylink.co.uk.

For more information on all Citylink services and initiatives please contact www.citylink.co.uk or 08705 50 50 50.

Issued by the BIG partnership on behalf of Scottish Citylink.

For further information please contact:

Kay Pullar on 0141 333 9585.