Coaches pay too

The many column inches devoted to the ongoing saga of Edinburgh Airport's proposed £1 drop-off charge have not included mention of the situation affecting coach groups arriving or departing the airport.

Coach operators and, therefore inevitably, their clients, must pay a minimum 2.50 charge every 15 minutes to access the airport. A free waiting area further away from the terminal has recently been closed, so there is no option but to complete a registration process and pay the charge.

In effect, since the meter is running from the moment of arrival, this means departing passengers must be literally dumped as quickly as possible, while arriving passengers have, somehow, to make contact with their coach driver, who will be parked somewhere on the far side of the airport where a flight monitor may or may not be working to provide some indication of actual flight arrival times.

This situation does nothing for the public image of the airport, the City of Edinburgh or Scottish tourism as a whole. It is effectively a tax on all arriving and departing passengers who, by using coach travel, are adopting a mode of travel which is relatively environmentally friendly.

COLIN WAKELING

Berrington Lough

Berwick-upon-Tweed