Edinburgh Airport Blog

Thomson boosts capacity at Edinburgh

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:49:10 GMT

Thomson and package holiday company, First Choice, are selling three new routes from Edinburgh Airport. The additions, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, and the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, come just a few days after Luton-based airline, easyJet, introduced flights from the Scottish hub to Grenoble in France, the Greek capital, Athens, and the largest Canary Island, Tenerife.

Speaking about Thomson’s latest investment, Kevin Brown, chief at Edinburgh Airport, said that the three new destinations were “very welcome”. The sky-blue airline claims that the trio of routes will lure an extra 8,000 new passengers to the hub. Thomson, anticipating a boom in Edinburgh’s popularity over the summer months, has already increased capacity on its most lucrative routes by 23,000 seats.

Paul Cooper, manager at Thomson, told the BBC News website that a surge in demand for the three destinations prompted the expansion. However, with just 13 routes available from Edinburgh, Thomson remains one of the smaller airlines at the airport, behind easyJet with 23 destinations, and Irish carrier, Ryanair, with 39. Thomson currently has no competition on the route to Rhodes, but the airline will have to do battle with Michael O’Leary’s airline for passengers bound for the Canary Islands.

Thomson is also offering package holidays in Rhodes and the Canaries. A seven-day holiday to Rhodes, beginning on July 24 2011, costs in the region of £530pp for three-star accommodation, and £652pp for the five-star Atlantic Imperial Resort in Kolymbia, Rhodes. The route will operate between June 29 and August 17 2011. Holidays in Gran Canaria are available from May 7 to October 29 2011, and cost between £434pp for three-star facilities, and £888pp for “affordable luxury,” otherwise known as a cheap five-star hotel.

APD could damage Scottish tourism

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:46:19 GMT

A recent rise in Air Passenger Duty (APD) could seriously damage Scottish tourism, according to a report commissioned by the three largest airports in the country. The hubs, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, anticipate a combined loss of 1.2m passengers by 2014, if the travel levy is not reduced.

Introduced in 1994, APD is calculated by measuring the distance travelled between two airports, and then comparing the data to a list of tax bands, designated A to D by increasing distance from London. Europe, for example, falls into Band A, and generally incurs the lowest APD of all destinations. The USA and parts of North Africa are in Band B, while locations in the Caribbean are placed in Band C. The most expensive bracket, Band D, includes countries situated over 6,000 miles away from the UK, such as Australia.

The APD on flights to Band A destinations stands at £12 for standard class, up from £5 in 1994. Whilst the duty fee might leave a bitter taste, the levy is unlikely to break the bank for most flyers. However, family groups on long haul trips from Scotland to Argentina (for example), could be forced to part with up to £340 in APD, depending on their choice of seat class. The British Airports Authority claims that the APD on Band C and D locations could force 5% of long-haul travellers to rethink their holiday plans.

Aberdeen Airport’s new boss, Derek Provan, is concerned that the November 2010 rise in APD could begin to impact ‘lifeline’ services provided by air to Scottish islands, destinations that are currently exempt from the levy. Mr. Provan’s counterpart at Glasgow Airport, Amanda MacMillan, is more concerned about the impact of APD on tourism, “quite simply, if it is too expensive to fly to Scotland, tourists and airlines will go elsewhere.” The two directors, alongside Edinburgh’s Kevin Brown, have called for ministers to rethink “further taxation” of the aviation industry.

In terms of numbers, the APD could cost Scotland £77m in lost tourism, equal to 150,000 fewer international visitors a year. Domestic routes could also lose half a million people within the next three years.

No new runway until 2040, says the BAA

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:09:45 GMT

The British Airports Authority (BAA) has effectively ended hopes of a new runway at Edinburgh Airport for the next thirty years. The aviation firm cited a recent slump in customers as the impetus for the move, believing that an expected hike in passenger numbers to 13m per year will now take almost a decade, rather than the original estimate of three years. Kevin Brown, Edinburgh Airport’s managing director, said that the BAA was now “grounded in the reality” of post-recession Scotland.

Unveiled in 2005, Edinburgh’s ‘master plan’ predicted a £1bn expansion that would double the size of the hub’s physical presence before 2030. Every airport structure, from terminal buildings and car parks, to departure lounges and cargo areas, was set for an overhaul to handle a “surge” in passengers and aeroplanes. The Scottish hub was aiming very high – 18m new travellers in three decades, more than treble the number of regular visitors in 2005.

However, when the recession dawned a few years later, Edinburgh Airport, much like the rest of the country’s businesses, found itself at the mercy of customers’ newfound frugality. The home holiday, or ‘staycation,’ was crowned king, and the sale of flights and package breaks quickly fell away. By the end of last year, Edinburgh had lost 5% of its annual passengers, down from 9m in 2009, to 8.6m in December 2010.

The master plan had become a pipe dream, and a revision was commissioned in January 2011. Officials now say that smaller projects will take priority, such as improvements to transfer facilities, and the construction of new aircraft stands and hangars. The overall size of the airport, contrary to 2005 projections, will not change, but the hub remains determined to boost both passenger numbers and aircraft movements within the next decade, to 12.3m travellers and 141,300 flights, respectively.

Bosses at Edinburgh may be hoping that a sufficiently large increase in passengers will force the BAA to table a new runway proposal before 2040. However, airport boss, Kevin Brown, intimated that consolidation and "waiting it out" would come before Edinburgh invests seriously in its expansion plans, “(the airport) is keen to capitalise on the opportunities that will arise when our economy begins to grow again.”

The master plan will now enter a 14-week consultation phase, which will allow the BAA to refine its plans and liaise with the public, before the report is finalised.

Iceland Express plans homeland flights

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:17:09 GMT

If your lust for snow and ice hasn’t been satiated by the recent widespread snow flurries, then North Atlantic airline, Iceland Express, has a surprise for you. The carrier will begin flying from Edinburgh Airport to the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, from June 14th 2011. The route will encompass the airline’s first UK destination outside London.

Reykjavik, in western Iceland, is not only one of the hardest words to type on a keyboard, but an increasingly popular destination for British travellers, despite the island’s famously high prices. Iceland Express’s new route is the second UK-Iceland flight to be announced this year, after rival airline, Icelandair, began running flights from Manchester Airport to the island republic during November.

Ironically, despite the expansions by the two carriers, Iceland is perhaps better known amongst airline bosses as the worst thing to happen to aviation in decades, after resident volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, closed much of Europe’s airspace back in April of this year. However, the mountain, and its associated glaciers, is likely to be a huge draw for holidaymakers, providing of course that it doesn’t explode.

Iceland Express will also link Reykjavik to Belfast, via Edinburgh, and to Dublin in the Irish Republic. The airline, alongside Icelandair, provides flights to the United States from Reykjavik Keflavik Airport, opening up destinations such as New York and Chicago to passengers travelling from Scotland and Ireland.

Edinburgh-Reykjavik will operate twice a week until August 30th 2011. Matthias Imsland, CEO at Iceland Express, was convinced that his airline’s new route is unique, stating: “No other airline offers direct flights between these destinations and Reykjavik. We are delighted to fill this gap".

Edinburgh buried beneath early snow

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:09:36 GMT

The falling snow is causing the usual problems for the UK – closed schools numbering in the hundreds, an outpouring of ‘wintry scene’ photographs on news websites, chiefly involving family pets standing jaw-deep in snow, and the temporary closure of Britain’s many airports.

Perhaps the first airport to succumb to the weather was Jersey, which was closed for several hours at the weekend, after a lightning strike put radar equipment out of commission on Saturday, and then heavy snow blanketed the Channel Island on Sunday.

Newcastle, Cardiff, Durham, Leeds, Doncaster, and Luton airports have also reported problems, with the latter hub braced for increasingly severe weather from late on Tuesday evening.

However, Edinburgh Airport appears to have been hit the hardest by the falling snow. Bosses pulled the plug on flights on Monday evening for the second time in 24 hours, prompting tens of delays, and forcing many travellers to sleep on the cold terminal floor.

Edinburgh reopened at 0330 on Tuesday morning, before being closed once again at 0600. The airport has not reported any further problems since 1200, when snowploughs scrubbed the runway clean of snow.

The BBC News website reports that only a few planes were able to take off or land at Edinburgh Airport on Sunday and Monday, which goes someway to demonstrating the severity of recent wintry weather in Scotland.

Regular updates are being posted on the airport's official website, but all passengers are advised to contact their airline before leaving their homes, especially if more snow is falling.

Speaking earlier, a passenger at Edinburgh Airport noted serious disruption to normal services - “there were passengers asking taxi drivers if they would take them all the way to London,” the unfortunate flyer, whose flight to Orkney had been cancelled, said. “It was chaos.” The same passenger also observed “hundreds of people” queuing for buses at the airport.

WDF opens three new stores

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:53:18 GMT

Passengers at Edinburgh Airport can enjoy a series of new stores, courtesy of UK travel retailer, World Duty Free (WDF). The three shops, eyewear purveyor, Sunglasses, and a two in one store selling MAC and Jo Malone cosmetic products, are located in the airport’s departure area, beyond the security gates.

The two beauty outlets, MAC and Jo Malone, share the same space, dubbed a ‘dual concept’ shop by WDF. The store’s design, which is essentially an ordinary high street shop, albeit with two sides removed, was created in collaboration with US cosmetics giant, Estée Lauder, the owner of the two brands.

Sunglasses, rather unsurprisingly, sells non-prescription eyewear. Products from Ray-Ban, Tiffany, and D&G, among others, are arranged according to style or range, and left unboxed, allowing passengers to try them on, sadly with the result that greasy fingerprints are often left all over the lenses.

Jo O’Connor, Commercial Director at WDF, called the dual concept a “real first,” and a “huge draw for customers.” Kevin Brown, chief at Edinburgh Airport, echoed Jo’s sentiments, by saying that developments in the hub’s departure lounge, including the new WDF stores, have been welcomed by passengers.

Edinburgh Airport, much like Heathrow, East Midlands, and most other UK hubs, has always moonlighted as a shopping mall. The hub’s departure lounge is currently host to high street pharmacist, Boots, and US bookshop, Borders, as well as a number of specialist stores, such as a liquorice shop and even an art gallery.

Last year, the European duty-free market brought in around £2.5bn. Tax-free discounts at airport stores helped travellers save around £168m, when compared to high street prices. However, online retailer, Kelkoo, in a news item that upset the British Airports Authority earlier this year, maintains that online shopping still offers greater discounts than stores at UK airports.