Edinburgh Airport to get £40m makeover
11.02.09
A £40m revamp of Edinburgh Airport will make it one of the most modern in Europe, operator BAA said today. The plan will see a new terminal created with a purpose-built security screening area alongside shops, bars and restaurants, which will allow the airport to support 13 million passengers every year. The £40m terminal, which will take two years to complete, is the first phase of a planned £100m investment in the hub over the next five years.
In the past decade, passenger numbers at Edinburgh Airport have doubled, rising from four and a half million in 1998 to almost nine million in the 12 months to the end of January. It is now Scotland's busiest airport. Although this growth has stopped in recent months as a result of the current economic downturn, airport managing director Gordon Dewar said it was important to plan for the future in order to compete effectively with Europe's ‘biggest and best’ airports.
Mr Dewar said: ‘This investment is a vote of confidence in Edinburgh Airport. It will help stimulate the local economy and create or support hundreds of jobs at what is obviously a difficult time for the airline industry and for the wider economy. A successful, ambitious airport is good for Edinburgh and good for Scotland.’
‘The current terminal is now at capacity. We face a choice - we either develop the airport in a responsible, sustainable manner, or risk Edinburgh falling behind other European cities by allowing our competitors airports to take the lead.’
BAA's investment in Edinburgh Airport was welcomed by the city council and local tourism chiefs. Whether the company will still own the airport when it is complete is open to debate. The Competition Commission has indicated that BAA will be forced to sell a Scottish Airport, with Edinburgh picked as the most likely. However, BAA has been fighting to keep the airport, preferring to sell Glasgow.
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