Airport hotel plan checks in

A MAJOR 125-bedroom hotel would be built near the main entrance to Edinburgh Airport under a masterplan being developed by Scotland’s premier agricultural society.

The new accommodation will be built on the former Port Royal driving range grounds – directly opposite the 150-room Hilton hotel – under plans to be submitted to the city council within weeks.

The land is owned by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, which runs the annual show at Ingliston.

The driving range that once occupied the site has been closed since October 2011.

A verbal agreement has been struck with UK-based firm Chardon Management, which runs Holiday Inns in Glasgow and Perth, to operate the new hotel.

There will be room to expand the facility beyond 125 rooms.

It will become just the third hotel in the airport’s immediate vicinity, with a 95-room Quality Hotel the only other place to stay adjacent to the major transport hub.

Chardon Trading managing director Nicola Taylor said the organisation was also transforming the existing Quality Hotel into a refurbished Holiday Inn Express as part of a multi-million investment.

She said: “If you looked at most other airports, they clearly have more hotels than the two at Edinburgh.”

Edinburgh Airport achieved its busiest ever May this year, with 906,679 passengers travelling through that month.

Airport chiefs were confident of topping one million passengers in a month for the first time, with Air Canada Rouge yesterday becoming the latest airline to launch new flights out of the Capital.

Edinburgh West MSP Colin Keir said: “Edinburgh Airport is a huge success story. It’s producing more jobs, there’s more people coming into the area and we desperately need more quality hotel space. Not everybody is coming to Edinburgh as a tourist – some are here for business and airport hotels are required.”

Both the Royal Highland society and the airport declined to comment.

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