International growth boost for Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh Airport: busiest ever summer. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Figures out yesterday showed that the capital’s terminal handled more than four million passengers in the four months between the beginning of June and the end of September.

Last month saw 987,674 passengers pass through the airport – a rise of 2.9 per cent on September 2013. It follows two consecutive “million months” in July and August.

International passenger numbers jumped by 6.3 per cent last month thanks to “unprecedented development” in long-haul services to the United States, Canada and the Middle East. However, domestic numbers dipped 1.4 per cent following the end of EasyJet’s service to London Southend.

Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “Summer 2014 has been very successful for us and seeing over four million passengers in as many months is a great achievement.

“The Ryder Cup saw huge numbers of visitors to Scotland and we had one of our busiest departure days ever on 29 September with all transatlantic flights and connections from Edinburgh full.”

He added: “September was a great month for us with a significant increase in the number of international passenger travel. This has been down to new long-haul routes to Chicago, Philadelphia and Doha, which weren’t in operation last year, and an increased frequency to Toronto with Air Canada Rouge.”

Separate figures showed that Glasgow Airport recorded a 2.4 per cent rise in passenger numbers last month, while Aberdeen experienced a 6.8 per cent increase on a year earlier. Both airports are owned by the operator of London Heathrow.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, said: “The Ryder Cup was hugely successful in attracting visitors from across the globe to Scotland and we enjoyed a lift in passenger numbers as a direct result.”