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Edinburgh Airport Information

Facilities

Edinburgh Airport boasts a wide range of facilities including executive lounges provided by BMI, British Airways, Scotsways and Serisair. There are also amenities available for the disabled traveller, including accessible toilets, lifts and reserved seating. There is also a combined information and Edinburgh and Lothian Tourist Board desk, which is located next to International Arrivals. In addition Alamo, Europcar, Hertz and National all have desks located in the Domestic Arrivals hall.

History

Edinburgh Airport started life as an Aerodrome during the First World War. The Turnhouse Aerodrome was converted into the RAF Turnhouse for the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, with just a grass strip for a runway and aeroplanes that arrived in packages that had to be assembled. The original facility was sited close to the main East Coast railway line and the crates containing the dismantled aircraft arrived on trains. In 1947 the first Edinburgh�London shuttle service began, operated by British European Airways and then, after 45 years of RAF control, the Turnhouse was demilitarised and handed over to the Ministry of Aviation who continued to provide the Edinburgh-London service until 1971 when the airport was purchased by BAA. It was six years after its purchase that it was officially opened as Edinburgh Airport by her Majesty the Queen.

In 2001 the terminal building underwent major renovations designed by Robert Matthew and there are further expansions proposed for the future. It is hoped that the scheme will double the present passenger capacity and put Edinburgh into sixth place behind Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Birmingham. Currently there are 17 terminal stands for planes and numerous others which require passengers to be bussed to the terminal. Other construction work includes a new immigration all and a centrally located check-in area. These are now finished and a new Air Traffic control tower was completed in 2005, which will provide another landmark later this year.

International passenger traffic has doubled during the last three years and it is expected that this growth will be maintained. In fact Edinburgh is now Scotland's busiest for scheduled International flights. London domestic traffic accounts for 60% of Edinburgh's total traffic figures though this is not surprising taking into account that Edinburgh is second only to London for the number of visitors that it welcomes every year. There are roughly 128 daily flights between Edinburgh and the five London Airports. Edinburgh is now the UK's second busiest airport for domestic traffic after London.

In 1999 more than five million passengers passed through Edinburgh Airport and by 2009 that figure is projected to have increased by 3 million. The advent of the Scottish Parliament is expected to boost passenger figures by 350,000 every year. As well as the recently modernised terminal building, the Edinburgh boasts two main runways and a large cargo operation. Work is now in progress to charge all private or commercial vehicles entering the airport to pick up or set down passengers, whether the need to park or not. Work is progressing in the installation of many barriers and number plate recognition equipment to enforce this. This is not a way to create revenue but it is for environmental reasons.

There are plans to expand Edinburgh airport by adding a further runway, although this is unlikely to be completed in the next thirty years. The Scottish Executive announced in 2003, plans to extend a rail link to Edinburgh Airport. A proposed tram route is expected to connect to Edinburgh Airport when complete in 2009. Currently express bus services link the airport to Edinburgh City Centre and Inverkeithing railway station in Fife. An extension to the terminal is currently being developed. This will add six gates on a new pier to the east of the current building and the extension is scheduled to open this year.