The Sunday Times Scotland has launched a new service for travellers, expanding its Travel section to become the only quality newspaper north of the border to carry news and features on holiday departures direct from Scotland.

With a record number of holidaymakers wanting to fly and sail directly out of Scotland, avoiding the hassle of getting to an English airport first, the title has recruited one of the country’s most experienced travel writers to help Scots' holiday plans take off.

Katie Wood is an award-winning travel journalist with more than three decades of experience in the travel industry. The author of 39 guidebooks, Wood has travelled to 136 countries on five continents and been a travel editor for four national UK newspapers, including The Sun.

She has also presented on radio and TV travel programmes, including ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘Scottish Passport’. Each month Katie will share her top tips for travelling abroad directly from Scotland and, with staycations as popular as ever, she will also give the lowdown on the best spots closer to home.

The new content, has been launched after securing a six-month advertising deal with Air Canada, which operates direct flights between Glasgow and Toronto.

Jason Allardyce, Scotland editor of The Sunday Times, said:

“With a record number of direct routes now available for holidaymakers, a huge appetite for travel and commercial support behind us, now is the perfect time to strengthen the award-winning Travel section with even more expertise to further improve our service to readers in Scotland.”

Katie Wood said:

“I am delighted to be joining The Sunday Times – a paper with a deservedly excellent reputation for travel coverage. We live in quite volatile times just now, but travel remains high on the ‘must-do’ list for most Scots, and my hope is to inspire readers in Scotland to enjoy the exciting destinations we can now access direct from our airports and sea ports, not forgetting the pleasure of holidaying in Scotland itself.”

The Sunday Times Scotland has enjoyed a year on year sales increase of 11% and is far and away the biggest selling quality newspaper in Scotland on any day of the week – selling substantially more than quality market rivals Scotland on Sunday and Sunday Herald combined.