easyJet is targeting a 10 per cent increase in passenger numbers in Scotland in the current year, to around six million, as it launches a range of new flights to capitalise on strong demand from leisure and business travellers.

“We see a massive opportunity in Scotland,” said Sophie Dekkers, easyJet’s director for the UK market.

The expansion will see easyJet launch new routes from Glasgow to Milan and Marseilles in December and March respectively. New services from Edinburgh to Vienna and Venice will start in February.

The company has been encouraged by the success of routes it has launched in recent months, including an Edinburgh to Madeira Funchal service.

Ms Dekkers noted there was a boom in passenger numbers on flights between Scotland and ‘big four’ resort destinations such as Alicante over the summer, partly in response to the poor weather in the UK and the strength of the pound.

easyJet has decided to axe the Glasgow to Morocco service it launched in October last year after concerns about terrorist activity in nearby Tunisia weighed on demand, even before the Paris attacks on Friday.

Once the service finishes in June next year some of the capacity freed up could be used to increase the frequency of flights to popular European resorts.

easyJet experienced a "cooling off" in demand for travel to France after the Paris attacks on Friday which killed at least 129 people, but expects normal services to resume quickly, said chief executive Carolyn McCall.

The company expects to achieve continued growth in business traffic between airports in Scotland and London and further afield.

It plans to increase the frequency of flights on successful routes.

Ms Dekkers said the company has been very pleased with the response to a service linking Aberdeen with Geneva in Switzerland which it launched in December last year, partly to appeal to skiers.

She noted this showed that people in the Aberdeen catchment area welcomed being able to fly to overseas destinations direct, without having to go via London.

Ms Dekkers said the Scottish Government could help encourage the development of new routes by scrapping Air Passenger Duty when control over the tax passes to Holyrood.

The Scottish Government has proposed cutting the duty by 50 per cent by the end of the next Scottish Parliament, expected to be in 2021. It is consulting airlines and business and environmental groups on the proposed changes.

Ms Dekkers said any changes must be simple and not skewed in favour of any kind of airline or passenger.

She predicted the industry would respond to effective reforms by increasing capacity in a way that would encourage ministers to scrap the duty altogether.

easyJet increased the number of passengers using Scottish airports by 2.5 per cent annually, to 5.5 million, in the year to 30 September, from around 5.4m in the preceding year.

The group increased total passenger numbers by 6 per cent annually, to 68.6 million, with a record load factor in August of 94.4per cent.

easyJet increased pre tax profits by 18 per cent annually, £105m, to a fresh record high of £686m, from £581m in the preceding year. Revenues increased four per cent annually, to £4.7billion from £4.5bn.

Ms McCall said “Our outlook for the longer term is positive. We expect demand in our markets to be sustained and for easyJet to continue to be a winner in its markets. We will see passenger growth of seven per cent a year, sustaining margins through rigorous cost control and the benefit of fleet up-gauging.”