Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh Airport Template:Airport codes is an international airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located Template:Convert<ref name="aip"/> west of the city centre, just off the M8 and M9 motorways. It is owned and operated by Edinburgh Airport Limited.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The airport is the busiest airport in Scotland based on passenger numbers, with 14.4 million passengers flying from the airport in 2023, a 28% increase on passenger numbers from 2022. A total of 35 airlines use the airport to fly to over 152 international destinations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During 2024, Edinburgh Airport experienced its busiest year in terms of passenger numbers, with a total of 15 million passengers. It also marked the busiest year for any Scottish airport in history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As well as being the busiest airport in Scotland, Edinburgh Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the United Kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Early years

Template:Main In 1916, Turnhouse Aerodrome opened as the northernmost British air defence base in World War I used by the Royal Flying Corps.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1918, the Royal Air Force was formed and the airfield was named RAF Turnhouse and ownership was transferred to the Air Ministry.Template:Fact

From 1925, the small base was used to house the 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, which consisted of DH 9As, Westland Wapitis, Hawker Harts, and Hawker Hind light bombers. All the aircraft used a grass airstrip.Template:Fact

In 1939, when the Second World War broke out, RAF Fighter Command took control over the airfield and a runway of Template:Convert was paved to handle the Supermarine Spitfire. During the Battle of Britain, 3, 65, and 141 Squadrons were present at the airbase.Template:Fact

Post-Second World War

After 1945, when WW2 ended, the airfield remained under military control. It was officially opened for commercial traffic on 19 May 1947. The first commercial flight to use the airport was a British European Airways service from London (Northolt) to Shetland, with Edinburgh and Aberdeen being intermediate stopping points. The aircraft was an 18-seat Douglas C47.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

BAA ownership

Template:Stack On 1 April 1971, the British Airports Authority (BAA) took over ownership of the airport, at a time when the original terminal building was running at about eight times its design capacity. Immediate improvements to the terminal were cosmetic, such as extra seating and TV monitors for flight information, and it took two years for plans to be proposed for a completely new terminal and runway redesign. Public consultation on planning started in November 1971 and ended in February 1972. The initial stages of the redevelopment began in June 1973; they included a diversion of the River Almond. Work on the new terminal building, designed by Sir Robert Matthew, started in March 1975, and the building was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 27 May 1977.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

International service from Edinburgh began in 1962 with direct service to Dublin, but for many years international flights were charter and private only. This started to change during the late 1970s, with direct services to continental Europe (Amsterdam, 1975). By the mid-1980s, direct routes included Paris, Düsseldorf, Brussels, Frankfurt and Copenhagen, but direct transatlantic flights were not yet possible as Glasgow-Prestwick was the only "designated gateway" in Scotland under the US-UK Bermuda II Agreement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By the time BAA had been privatised in 1987, Edinburgh Airport handled over 1.8 million passengers each year; compared to the 681,000 passengers handled in 1971 when BAA first took control of the airport.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

RAF Turnhouse was operational near the passenger terminal of the airport for all of the post-war period but was finally closed in 1997.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 19 October 2011, BAA Limited announced its intention to sell the airport, following a decision by the UK's Competition Commission requiring BAA to sell either Glasgow Airport or Edinburgh Airport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> BAA announced on 23 April 2012 that it had sold Edinburgh Airport to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for a price of £807.2 million, equivalent to £Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation/year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

GIP ownership

Template:Stack In 2013, a further extension to the passenger terminal was announced, taking the terminal building up to the Edinburgh Airport tram stop. The Edinburgh Trams opening in May 2014 created the first rail connection to Edinburgh Airport. Whilst the number of passengers has increased, the number of flights decreased in 2014 due to planes operating at a higher capacity.<ref>^ CAA: UK Annual Airport StatisticsTemplate:Full citation needed</ref> Passenger traffic at Edinburgh Airport reached a record level in 2015 with over 11.1 million passengers<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and over 109,000 aircraft movements.<ref name="stats"/>

A new £25millionTemplate:Failed verification expansion project involving the construction of a new Template:ConvertTemplate:Failed verification building, housing a security hall and retail areas, was also completedTemplate:When.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In February 2016, consultancy firm Biggar Economics announced that Edinburgh Airport contributes almost £1 billion annually to the Scottish economy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As part of the expansion works, Runway 12/30 was officially withdrawn from use on 29 March 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

VINCI ownership

On 17 April 2024, Vinci SA announced that it had reached an agreement with GIP to acquire a 50.01% shareholding of the airport for £1.27 billion, with GIP retaining 49.99%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The transaction was concluded on 25 June 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In December 2024, Edinburgh Airport became the first in Scotland to record over 15 million passengers in a calendar year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Edinburgh:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Statistics

Passenger numbers

Year	Number of passengersTemplate:Efn	Number of aircraft movementsTemplate:Efn
1985	1,578,000	36,926
1986	1,651,000	36,596
1987	1,852,000	39,603
1988	2,080,000	40,664
1989	2,369,000	47,100
1990	2,495,000	47,900
1991	2,343,000	49,700
1992	2,539,000	56,400
1993	2,721,000	58,800
1994	3,001,000	61,100
1995	3,280,000	64,000
1996	3,810,000	68,800
1997	4,214,919	99,352
1998	4,588,507	100,134
1999	5,119,258	101,226
2000	5,519,372	102,393
2001	6,067,333	112,361
2002	6,930,649	118,416
2003	7,481,454	118,943
2004	8,017,547	125,317
2005	8,456,739	127,122
2006	8,611,345	126,914
2007	9,047,558	128,172
2008	9,006,702	125,550
2009	9,049,355	115,969
2010	8,596,715	108,997
2011	9,385,245	113,357
2012	9,195,061	110,288
2013	9,775,443	111,736
2014	10,160,004	109,545
2015	11,114,587	115,286
2016	12,348,425	122,220
2017	13,410,256	128,675
2018	14,310,403	130,016
2019	14,747,830	131,617
2020	3,478,501	45,966
2021	3,024,960	34,165
2022	11,250,211	93,004
2023	14,396,794	115,076
2024	15,777,621	116,693
Source: CAA Statistics<ref name="www.caa.co.uk">Template:Cite web</ref>

Busiest routes

Busiest international routes from Edinburgh to (2024)

Rank	Destination	Passengers	Change 2023 to 2024
1	Dublin	738,414	Template:Increase 2.2%
2	Amsterdam	686,089	Template:Increase 15.5%
3	Paris-Charles de Gaulle	457,993	Template:Increase 4.5%
4	Doha-Hamad	373,727	Template:Increase 27.9%
5	Tenerife-South	349,605	Template:Increase 9.2%
6	Copenhagen	273,481	Template:Increase 23.1%
7	Frankfurt	257,445	Template:Increase 6.1%
8	Alicante	250,608	Template:Increase 2.8%
9	Geneva	221,909	Template:Increase 10.4%
10	Madrid	220,861	Template:Increase 19.4%
Source: CAA Statistics<ref name="www.caa.co.uk"/>

Busiest domestic routes from Edinburgh to (2024)

Rank	Destination	Passengers	Change 2023 to 2024
1	London Heathrow	1,159,797	Template:Increase 10.5%
2	London Stansted	693,953	Template:Increase 15.7%
3	Belfast International	519,103	Template:Increase 19.6%
4	London Gatwick	476,152	Template:Increase 3.6%
5	Bristol	451,404	Template:Increase 6.8%
6	London Luton	338,792	Template:Increase 8.1%
7	London City	334,893	Template:Decrease 2.3%
8	Birmingham	273,132	Template:Increase 27.4%
9	Belfast City	130,129	Template:Increase 11.2%
10	Southampton	82,565	Template:Decrease 7.3%
Source: CAA Statistics<ref name="www.caa.co.uk"/>

Ground transport

Bus

Bus services from the airport

Operator	Destinations	Ref.
Bright Bus Airport Express	Central Edinburgh	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Lothian Buses	Edinburgh	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Scottish Citylink	Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Lothian	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Stagecoach East Scotland	Fife	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Road

The airport lies on the A8 road, and can be reached by the M8 motorway and the M9 motorway. The airport can also be reached from the M90 motorway via the Queensferry Crossing.

Train

The airport has no dedicated railway station. However, it is served by the nearby Edinburgh Gateway station, which serves as an interchange with Edinburgh Trams services to the airport.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The tram line also connects the airport to the nearby Edinburgh Park railway station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A more extensive Edinburgh Airport Rail Link project to provide a direct heavy rail link was cancelled in 2007 due to increasing costs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Tram

The airport is served by Edinburgh Trams, a light rail link.

The line from the airport travels eastwards through the western suburbs and the city centre of Edinburgh before heading north to Leith, eventually terminating at Newhaven.

Accidents and incidents

• On 20 July 1970, a Hawker Siddeley HS-125-3B (G-AXPS) operated by the Imperial Tobacco Company crashed on takeoff from Turnhouse on an empty positioning flight to Newcastle. The aircraft was a total loss and whilst the pilot was uninjured, the copilot was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. The probable cause of the crash was thought to be the application of an incorrect rudder following a simulated engine failure on take-off. The reason for this application of an incorrect rudder has not been determined.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• A De Havilland Moth Minor (G-AFOZ) crashed at Turnhouse during a low-level display on 3 May 1975. One of the two occupants died in the hospital the following day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• On 27 February 2001, Loganair flight 670A, a Shorts 360 (G-BNMT) operating a Royal Mail flight to Belfast, crashed into the Firth of Forth shortly after taking off from Edinburgh at 1730 GMT. Both crew members were killed, but there were no passengers on board. A fatal accident inquiry later blamed a buildup of slush in the aircraft's engines before the crash. A protective covering had not been fitted to the engine intakes while the aircraft was parked at Edinburgh for several hours in heavy snow.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:NWS-current
• Template:ASN