Edinburgh Airport passenger numbers reach 1.1m

The transport hub posted year-on-year growth figures of 10.6 per cent for June, putting it on course to reach almost 11m passengers by the end of 2015.

A total of 1,098,859 people arrived or departed from Edinburgh Airport, with an increase in international passengers spearheading growth, particularly on routes to European capitals and long haul connections to New York, Doha and Abu Dhabi.

Growth for much of 2015 has outstripped expectations, with airport bosses expecting annual increases of around 5 per cent.

Booming passenger numbers have come at a cost, however, with the airport scrambling to adapt staffing procedures at its £25m new security hall after complaints over long queues and delays threatened to damage its image.

Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “We had an incredibly busy month in June with more passengers travelling through than ever before.

“As the summer properly gets underway we’re anticipating our passenger numbers will continue to grow as people head off on the holidays.

“While it’s great seeing so many passengers travelling through the airport at this time of year, we do realise the last few months have been challenging with issues in security.

“While we’ve worked hard to resolve these, it’s still important that our passengers help us by being prepared for the security process.”