A £10m extension of Aberdeen Airport's main runway is to finally take off, it has been announced. Aberdeen City Council has already approved the extension and now airport operator BAA has said work will begin in March. It is expected to finish in the summer of 2012.

The total length of the runway extension is 124m. Airport managing director Derek Provan said it followed years of "planning and hard work". He said: "It is impossible to understate the impact that this could have on the whole of the north east. It opens up new destinations at the same time as allowing our existing carriers to work more efficiently."