New facility set to open today as part of £40m revamp of Edinburgh Airport

Published on Thursday 19 November 2009 09:13

A NEW departure lounge was set to be unveiled at Edinburgh Airport today following completion of the first phase of a £40 million redevelopment.

Passengers will get their first glimpse of the new 2,600 sq metre facility, which airport bosses hope will allow the terminal to handle 13 million travellers a year by 2013.

The three-phase redevelopment of the terminal is the biggest single project in the airport's 32-year history.

The major extension to the north of the existing terminal has created 450 additional seats in the lounge.

There will also be two new restaurants – the Sir Walter Scott bar, operated by JD Wetherspoons, and The Gathering, a restaurant, takeaway and delicatessen outlet run by catering firm Delaware North.

There will also be a new World Duty Free store and a Boots pharmacy, which has relocated from its previous site at the airport.

Gordon Dewar, the airport's managing director, said: "This is a historic moment for Edinburgh Airport.

"With more and more people passing through our airport, it is right to invest now in expanding the terminal building and improve facilities so our passengers enjoy the best possible experience, both when they depart and when they arrive."

Despite the economic downturn, Edinburgh is now the fastest growing of the UK's major airports, handling over nine million passengers and 110,000 aircraft movements a year.

Councillor Tom Buchanan, the council economic development leader, said: "The airport is critical in connecting Scotland's capital with the world, supporting jobs and driving economic growth.

"It has been great to see so many new direct flights operating to and from our airport over recent years and this fantastic new departure lounge shows the ambition the airport still has to further strengthen our city's international connections."

However, Juliet Swann, head of projects and campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said it was time for the aviation industry to stop acting as if it was "business as usual".

She said: "If flights increased to the extent Edinburgh Airport seem to be predicting, aviation would use up all our allowable emissions budget and then some. Friends of the Earth Scotland think it's incredibly irresponsible, and quite the wrong move to encourage air travel when the climate calls for alternative and sustainable ways of transport.

"We should be concentrating on providing good quality, low- carbon public transport and weaning people off flying."

The next phase of the airport's makeover includes the construction of a new central security area.

The whole redevelopment, which is part of airport operator BAA's capital investment programme, is due for final completion in spring 2011.

BAA is currently appealing against a decision by the Competition Commission, which has said the company must sell off either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport.