Gordon Dewar: Sky's the limit if we work together

Much of the comment focused on the newspaper claims that the adoption of this phrase was the first salvo in a "war" against my colleagues in Glasgow and Aberdeen, but I was keen to point out that it really has nothing to do with them.

This is very much an Edinburgh Airport aspiration. It's about making our airport the best it can be and ensuring we grow and develop it to the best of our ability.

We're not there yet, but we're making great strides in getting there. We're now the sixth largest airport in the UK, jumping Birmingham and hot on the heels of Luton. We've also had great success in adding new routes.

The announcement in the Evening News of Spanair opening a new route to Barcelona, for example, is a significant one for both the airport and Edinburgh itself. Edinburgh is a world-class destination, ranking with the likes of Barcelona, Paris and Berlin as a key European city in which to work and to visit.

It's a truism that a good airport reflects the city that it serves.

This is our starting point when planning all our business – we are intrinsically linked to Edinburgh and its city region. We're a big employer, supporting around 5,000 jobs on the airport campus and many more in the surrounding community. Our economic contribution in 2009 was estimated as 118.4 million.

The Capital is a huge factor in that success. Edinburgh's product – its sophistication, heritage, culture – is truly inspiring. As we talk to airlines, airports and partners across Europe, the appeal and appetite for our capital is undimmed.

Sometimes we can forget how great our city is when we get distracted by local issues and challenges. But let's not forget how others perceive us and it is generally something to celebrate.

However, in striving to be Scotland's airport of choice, we need to work very hard on how we work with our customers, the airlines.

It's clear to see why aviation is vital to the Capital. Scotland is at the north-west periphery of Europe. Tourism is one of our biggest employers and exports and so aviation is still the main access to the vast majority of our overseas markets.

Edinburgh Airport has managed to build a reputation for value for money. This doesn't mean that we're the cheapest, but what it does mean is that we work hard to understand our customers' needs and partner with them to meet those needs.

We're very aggressive commercially as we understand that every penny counts both for our customers and their passengers. The more we can invest in our airport and the more revenue we can generate from elsewhere, the less we need to charge our customers and therefore continue to grow the choice and frequency of flights from Edinburgh.

This goal of value for money also ensures that we are efficient and manage to keep our costs per passenger down.

This commitment to being expert operators is what allows us to compete in an increasingly competitive market. As I mentioned earlier, being Scotland's airport of choice is not a direct challenge to my colleagues in Scotland, it's a direct challenge to our competitors across Europe, which is where our real challenge comes from.

Growth airlines like Ryanair and easyJet are not in this industry to fly to airports and cities that will not be profitable. We therefore need to blend our expertise in running an airport with Edinburgh's world-class status to maintain the unbeatable product.

In order for us to truly be Scotland's airport of choice, Edinburgh must be Scotland's city of choice. We will only be successful if Edinburgh is successful.

We intend to build on what we've achieved together. I'm ambitious for Edinburgh and the airport and believe that my team can attract more routes and open up further parts of the world for our enterprising businesses to exploit.

We're working with our partners such as the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and development and tourism groups DEMA and ETAG to ensure Edinburgh is the best that it can be.

The Festival is an excellent example. Though we're all excited about the Commonwealth Games coming to Scotland, we shouldn't forget that the Festival brings the same number of people to the city every year.

Despite the challenges that our city has faced in the past months, I'm optimistic about the future. We all live and work in Scotland's city of choice. Let's keep our eyes on that as we compete on the global stage.