Edinburgh Airport Blog

EasyJet adds 20th Edinburgh route

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:10:13 BST

On November 3, budget airline, easyJet, will add a new route from Edinburgh Airport to the city of Paphos on Cyprus.

Three weeks later, on November 23, the carrier will also begin flying to Cologne, Germany. The two new routes complement a third to Basel in Switzerland, due to take off at the beginning of December.

EasyJet’s total out of Edinburgh now stands at 20 flights, all of which travel to destinations in Europe. The Paphos route will operate twice a week, whilst visitors to Cologne can choose from four separate weekly outings.

Paphos becomes easyJet’s most easterly destination by several hundred miles, ahead of Krakow in Poland, and Munich in Germany. The Cypriot city is revered for its subtropical climate and rich heritage, which incorporates elements of the Greek pantheon of gods; legend has it that the goddess of love, Aphrodite, was born on the island.

Cologne is perhaps the better-known destination, having been a major trading centre since the middle ages. Today, the city is one of the largest in Germany, known for its many museums and its Bundesliga side, 1. F.C. Köln. Cologne also holds an annual street carnival in November, which can last until March the following year.

Edinburgh’s new boss, Kevin Brown, referred to easyJet as a “key partner” in strengthening the capital’s link to “sun destinations and European cities.” The airport is also hoping that the new routes will bring tourists to Scotland. EasyJet called the additions a “testament to our continued commitment to Edinburgh.”

Thousands oppose 'drop-off rip-off'

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:30:39 BST

Edinburgh Airport’s new director has been inundated with requests to axe the hub’s £1 drop-off fee. New chief, Kevin Brown, will replace Gordon Dewar, the man behind the controversial levy, on Monday.

Local travellers will be hoping that Brown can adopt a service-orientated approach to airport business, rather than focusing on profitability.

Edinburgh officials previously claimed that the £1 charge was to stop people using ‘kiss and fly’ areas, but angry customers have accused the hub’s owner, the British Airports Authority (BAA), of profiteering.

The scheme’s critics, which include every political party in Scotland, according to the Scotsman newspaper, have collected thousands of signatures from people petitioning to have the parking fee removed.

“My constituents are extremely unhappy about the drop-off charge.” Lothians MP, Gavin Brown, explained in a letter to Edinburgh Airport. “I have received representations from every corner of the Lothians urging me to campaign vigorously against the levy.” The MP referred to the parking plan as a ‘drop-off rip-off.’

Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, also owned by the BAA, have refused to introduce a similar parking scheme, which has heaped pressure on Edinburgh bosses.

In England, Newcastle was the first UK airport to enforce drop-off fees when it axed its free parking zone in April. East Midlands Airport reconfigured its car parks earlier this month, and introduced a £1 drop-off fee of its own.

Edinburgh’s desire to remove traditional kiss and fly areas suggests that bosses want to ease congestion by forcing travellers to use public transport.

However, local Liberal Democrat MP, Alison McInnes, is concerned that the city’s bus routes are insufficient to support the plan, especially for those living in the outskirts of the Scottish capital.

EasyJet launch Edinburgh-Basel route

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:26:42 BST

EasyJet has launched a new route out of Edinburgh Airport, to the city of Basel in northwest Switzerland. The carrier, which recently celebrated a 9.5% boost in passenger numbers over those for June 2009, now operates 18 routes out of the Scottish capital, including flights to Krakow in Poland, and Munich in Germany.

The Basel flight will operate four times a week from December 3, making it EasyJet’s second Swiss route from Edinburgh, after the city of Geneva. Tickets for the route went on sale at the beginning of July, priced at £25.99 for a one-way trip. Paul Simmons, manager at EasyJet, called the addition ‘superb.’

‘Basel is a city full of culture, and we are delighted to offer our Scottish travellers the chance to visit this great destination,’ Mr Simmons said. The city’s unusual location, straddling a ‘tri-nation’ border with France and Germany, gives Basel a unique heritage that dates all the way back to 374AD, when it was founded on the banks of the Rhine.

EasyJet recommends the Altstadt and Münsterplatz areas of Basel, which are renowned for their ‘atmospheric streets and market squares,’ and the ancient gatehouse, Spalentor, in the city centre.

The airline will also put on extra routes from four other airports, including Liverpool and Manchester. EasyJet appears to be bolstering its winter schedules to take advantage of an ongoing strike by British Airways staff, and to capitalise on a cull of Ryanair flights at Stansted and Belfast.

EasyJet is still losing out to Ryanair, however; the Irish carrier posted a 15% rise in customer numbers over those for the year to June 2010, making it one of the largest commercial airlines in the world.

Jet2 adds summer 2011 routes

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:30:04 BST

Budget airline, Jet2, has added six new routes out of Edinburgh Airport for the 2011 summer season. The routes, which include flights to the Croatian coast and the Czech Republic, among others, will begin in May.

Jet2 has made a name for itself over the past few months, for flying anything but regular travellers. The carrier rescued a pride of lions from Romania in February, becoming a budget ‘air-lion’ in the process, and a host of celebrities during the recent ash crisis, including Prince William and Damon Hill.

Biggles, a wounded racing pigeon, also found its way on to one of the carrier’s planes, after it landed in the back garden of Captain Mike Smith, a Jet2 pilot. The pigeon’s owner, Steve Girdwood, was ‘overjoyed’ to have his bird returned – ‘Biggles is one of my fastest birds. The wee fella did well to choose a pilot’s garden to land in.’

The good news is that Jet2 continues to cater for humans and ordinary mortals, and the airline’s new routes should help Edinburgh Airport make the most of the school holidays, which have already begun for Scottish schools.

Jet2’s latest flights begin at £29.99 for a one-way trip, taxes included. The routes are: Venice and Sardinia in Italy, La Rochelle and Toulouse, France, the historic city of Prague in the Czech Republic, and coastal Dubrovnik, Croatia. The airline now has twelve routes from the Scottish capital, all of which are to Europe.

A full list of Jet2’s new flights, including Belfast-Geneva and Manchester-Tunisia, is available on the airline’s website.

Airport mulls £1 drop-off charge

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:37:27 BST

Edinburgh is set to become the second airport in as many months to implement a mandatory £1 levy for all drivers who use the site’s drop-off zones.

The Scottish hub, which is owned by BAA, will continue to operate a free drop-off area, albeit at some distance from the main terminal.

Parking charges are never popular. The high cost of airport parking spaces has been the subject of a number of investigations, not least of which is a recent survey by Which? magazine. The consumer watchdog discovered that Heathrow’s on-site parking costs up to £89, almost three times the price of a space at Liverpool or Bristol.

Newcastle was one of the first UK airports to introduce the controversial £1 parking charge, but a lacklustre advertising campaign left many travellers unaware of the levy until they tried to exit the site. Local taxi drivers called the scheme ‘disgraceful’, noting ‘chaotic’ scenes around the airport’s terminal.

Edinburgh’s new parking tariff appears to be identical to the one unveiled at Newcastle in May. Neighbour and close rival Glasgow Airport is also considering a change to its parking charges, but the outcry from Scottish drivers could stop both schemes from getting off the ground.

The Edinburgh Taxi Association (ETA) has warned that cabbies might start dropping customers off outside the airport’s perimeter, in an effort to avoid paying £1 for a stay of just a few minutes. ‘This is grossly unfair’, Raymond Davidson, secretary for the ETA, explained. ‘Taxi drivers will be up in arms about this. This is, quite frankly, outrageous.’

Airport bosses claim that the plan is still under consideration, but alterations to Edinburgh’s forecourt and the roads surrounding the airport are expected in the coming months. The Scottish hub has promised to hold talks with customers and stakeholders before implementing any drastic changes.

Edinburgh-Kent service to begin

Fri, 28 May 2010 12:26:17 BST

Residents of Manston, Kent, have cause for celebration this week, after Flybe announced the creation of a new route between Edinburgh and Kent airports. The route, which is due to begin on the 27 May, is the first connection of its kind for more than five years.

Kent Manston Airport might not seem like the most obvious place to visit, but the hub’s proximity to central London, as well as to Heathrow, Gatwick, and London City airports, makes it an ideal destination for Scottish executives who have business in the southeast. Kent Airport is also an hour’s drive from the Channel Tunnel.

Infratil, the owner of Kent Airport, claims that Flybe’s new route will create up to 20 jobs, and help bolster links with more than 100 businesses in the Manston area. The flight departs every weekday morning, leaving Edinburgh at 10.50 and returning from Kent at 12.45. A similar service operates on Saturday.

A new Bombardier Q400 will operate the service, which is expected to run until the end of October. The Q400 is alleged to be the most hi-tech propeller aircraft in the world, and one of the cheapest to operate. Flybe has 58 Q400 planes in its fleet, with a further eight on order from Bombardier.

Manston boss, Marta Easton, was optimistic for the tiny Kent airport – ‘The team is very excited about the return of daily flights to Edinburgh. We are confident that our passengers will receive great customer service on a par with – if not better than – any other regional airport.’

Flybe has also reinstated flights from Edinburgh Airport to Bergerac and Rennes in France. Kent Airport offers routes to Jersey, and to several destinations in Eastern Europe.