Edinburgh Airport Information


Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	BAA Limited
Serves	Edinburgh Lothian Fife Scottish Borders
Location	Turnhouse, Edinburgh
Hub for	BMI Regional EasyJet Flybe Jet2.com Ryanair
Passengers	9,049,355
Movements	115,969

Edinburgh Airport is located at Turnhouse in the City of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2009, handling just over nine million passengers. It was also the seventh busiest airport in the UK by passengers and the fifth busiest by aircraft movements. It is located 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) west of the city centre and is situated just off the M8 motorway.

The airport is owned and operated by BAA, which also owns and operates five other UK airports, and is itself owned by ADI Limited, an international consortium, which includes Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and GIC Special Investments, that is led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group.

The airport is a base of EasyJet and Ryanair. Flyglobespan used to be based at Edinburgh airport but all operations were ceased on 16 December 2009 after going into administration due to financial circumstances.

The present terminal building, designed by Robert Matthew, was constructed in 1977 and has been upgraded in recent years, with new car parking facilities and an extended arrivals hall. A new control tower was completed in 2005.

There are plans for expansion of the airport, with passenger numbers expected to reach 26 million per annum by 2030.

Future plans

Infrastructure

In April, 2008 work began on the resurfacing of the main runway. This project, at a cost of £16m, was due to be completed by the end of November, 2008 and will prolong the life of the runway for a further 15 years. In the end, the work was completed around 10 days ahead of schedule and on budget.

A £40m extension to the departure lounge is to be built, with work commencing in December, 2008.

£250m is to be spent on the airport over the next decade. BAA has made provision in its Master Plan for the airport for an extension to the current runway 06/24, which would allow larger aircraft to serve longer haul destinations. There are plans to expand further by adding a new runway and terminal by 2020 which would accommodate up to 20 million passengers per annum. BAA projects that by 2030 Edinburgh Airport will be handling 26 million passengers per annum. Development has recently begun at Edinburgh Airport on a £40 million departure lounge extension project which will see the current lounge double in size as well as a new security search area and a greater choice bars, restaurants and shops. The departure lounge opened on 18/11/09.

Access and ground transportation

The airport lies on the A8 Glasgow-Edinburgh road, and can be easily reached by the M8 (from Glasgow) and the M9 (from Stirling). The airport is also within easy access from the M90 motorway (from Perth) via the Forth Road Bridge.

Lothian Buses provide public transportation to the airport with the Airlink 100 express bus from Edinburgh city centre, as well as local bus services. Additionally, Stagecoach operates the AirDirect 747 express bus service between the airport and Inverkeithing railway station and Ferrytoll Park and Ride in Fife, and the Gyle Shopping Centre and Heriot-Watt University.

There are currently no direct rail links to Edinburgh Airport, although it lies very close to the Fife Circle and the Edinburgh-Glasgow railway lines. A project to build the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link was cancelled in 2007 due to funding problems.

Transport links

Work is underway to construct a light rail link from the airport to Edinburgh city centre on the Edinburgh Trams network. The new system will run from an airport station across the western suburbs of Edinburgh on a segregated track; when the trams reach Haymarket railway station they will switch to street-running mode and travel through the city along Princes Street. Edinburgh Trams are expected to begin operation around 2011 or 2012.

As a cheaper alternative to the cancelled Edinburgh Airport Rail Link project, it has been proposed that an additional interchange station be constructed on the Fife Circle Line. Gogar railway station would provide interchange with airport tram services. This proposal has not yet been approved or funded.