LIVERPOOL John Lennon Airport is on course to complete the year in the top 10 of UK’s busiest airports.

Analysis by industry consultants RDC Aviation for the first nine months of 2010 showed that JLA has seen the second largest rise in passenger numbers – up 208,000 to 3.92m.

It is only bettered by Belfast City, which has added 221,000 passengers to take its nine-month total to 2.15m.

JLA’s growth has coincided with marked falls at similar airports.

For the period from January to September, 2009, less than 120,000 passengers separated 10th-placed East Midlands, JLA, Newcastle and Belfast International in 13th position.

This year, JLA has a 450,000 passenger lead on Newcastle while its other two competitors have suffered double-digit declines.

Only 12 of the top 50 airports have shown an increase in passenger numbers.

JLA has also maintained its 5.6% growth in October, with passenger numbers reaching record levels for the month. It is on course to comfortably beat 2009’s total of 4.95m, although will remain below the 2007 and 2008 highs of 5.47m and 5.36m respectively.

Peel Airport’s chief executive, Craig Richmond, said: “In terms of passenger numbers, yes, this was a good summer with new destinations coming on stream from both Easyjet and Ryanair.

“The winter period and beyond will undoubtedly be a difficult period for all in the aviation industry, and while this will a challenging period for the airport, we remain optimistic over the future and further business growth.

“Liverpool has great potential to build upon its success in recent years and to continue to benefit the region it serves.”

The busiest domestic route from a regional airport in 2010 remains Belfast International-JLA, while the route with the biggest increase is Belfast City-Liverpool.

Liverpool’s most-popular international route – and 12th busiest from a regional airport – is to Amsterdam, with 257,000 passengers in nine months.

Routes between JLA and Malaga, Alicante and Dublin have all had more than 200,000 passengers.