Edinburgh ‘Scotland’s Airport of choice’
13.03.10
Edinburgh Airport has a new slogan: ‘Scotland's airport of choice’, the Scotsman reports. The battle for new routes between it and fellow BAA-owned airport Glasgow comes as research by the newspaper reveals Edinburgh is soaring ahead of Glasgow in international routes.
There has been a turning of the tables since 2007, when Edinburgh soared past formerly pre-eminent Glasgow. It now carries a fifth more passengers – putting it nearly two million a year ahead. Edinburgh now has 80 international routes compared with 52 at Glasgow. All but one of these is in Europe or North Africa, compared with Glasgow's 39.
This means than even taking into account the 12 other European routes offered by Prestwick – which is nearly as far from Glasgow as Edinburgh airport – Edinburgh still eclipses both west coast airports put together. So, for example, there are just two Scandinavian routes from Glasgow compared with six from Edinburgh, some of which are served by several airlines.
Glasgow remains Scotland's main long-haul gateway, boasting more than a dozen transatlantic, Asian and the Middle Eastern routes compared with Edinburgh's one link to New York. However, Edinburgh's appeal as a tourist destination gives airlines the opportunity to fill their planes with both outbound and inbound passengers.
Edinburgh Airport managing director Gordon Dewar said: ‘The idea of being 'Scotland's Airport of Choice' is aspirational. We're confident in our responsiveness to customers, our service levels and in the quality of Edinburgh itself, so we believe that it is an aspiration that can be a definite reality in the coming months.’
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