Edinburgh Airport

Early years

In 1916, Turnhouse Aerodrome opened as the northernmost British air defence base in World War I used by the Royal Flying Corps.^[6]

In 1918, the Royal Air Force was formed and the airfield was named RAF Turnhouse and ownership was transferred to the Air Ministry.^{[citation needed]}

From 1925, the small base was used to house the 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, which consisted of DH 9As, Westland Wapitis, Hawker Harts, and Hawker Hind light bombers. All the aircraft used a grass airstrip.^{[citation needed]}

In 1939, when the Second World War broke out, RAF Fighter Command took control over the airfield and a runway of 3,900 ft (1,189 m) was paved to handle the Supermarine Spitfire. During the Battle of Britain, 3, 65, and 141 Squadrons were present at the airbase.^{[citation needed]}

Post-Second World War

After 1945, when WW2 ended, the airfield remained under military control. It was officially opened for commercial traffic on 19 May 1947. The first commercial flight to use the airport was a British European Airways service from London (Northolt) to Shetland, with Edinburgh and Aberdeen being intermediate stopping points. The aircraft was an 18-seat Douglas C47.^[7]

BAA ownership

On 1 April 1971, the British Airports Authority (BAA) took over ownership of the airport, at a time when the original terminal building was running at about eight times its design capacity. Immediate improvements to the terminal were cosmetic, such as extra seating and TV monitors for flight information, and it took two years for plans to be proposed for a completely new terminal and runway redesign. Public consultation on planning started in November 1971 and ended in February 1972. The initial stages of the redevelopment began in June 1973; they included a diversion of the River Almond. Work on the new terminal building, designed by Sir Robert Matthew, started in March 1975, and the building was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 27 May 1977.^[8]

International service from Edinburgh began in 1962 with direct service to Dublin, but for many years international flights were charter and private only. This started to change during the late 1970s, with direct services to continental Europe (Amsterdam, 1975). By the mid-1980s, direct routes included Paris, Düsseldorf, Brussels, Frankfurt and Copenhagen, but direct transatlantic flights were not yet possible as Glasgow-Prestwick was the only "designated gateway" in Scotland under the US-UK Bermuda II Agreement.^[9] By the time BAA had been privatised in 1987, Edinburgh Airport handled over 1.8 million passengers each year; compared to the 681,000 passengers handled in 1971 when BAA first took control of the airport.^[10]

RAF Turnhouse was operational near the passenger terminal of the airport for all of the post-war period but was finally closed in 1997.^[11]

On 19 October 2011, BAA Limited announced its intention to sell the airport, following a decision by the UK's Competition Commission requiring BAA to sell either Glasgow Airport or Edinburgh Airport.^[12] BAA announced on 23 April 2012 that it had sold Edinburgh Airport to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for a price of £807.2 million, equivalent to £1161 million in 2025.^[13]

GIP ownership

In 2013, a further extension to the passenger terminal was announced, taking the terminal building up to the Edinburgh Airport tram stop. The Edinburgh Trams opening in May 2014 created the first rail connection to Edinburgh Airport. Whilst the number of passengers has increased, the number of flights decreased in 2014 due to planes operating at a higher capacity.^[14] Passenger traffic at Edinburgh Airport reached a record level in 2015 with over 11.1 million passengers^[15] and over 109,000 aircraft movements.^[2]

A new £25million^{[failed verification]} expansion project involving the construction of a new 6,000 m² (65,000 sq ft)^{[failed verification]} building, housing a security hall and retail areas, was also completed^[when?].^[16]

In February 2016, consultancy firm Biggar Economics announced that Edinburgh Airport contributes almost £1 billion annually to the Scottish economy.^[17] As part of the expansion works, Runway 12/30 was officially withdrawn from use on 29 March 2018.^[18]

VINCI ownership

On 17 April 2024, Vinci SA announced that it had reached an agreement with GIP to acquire a 50.01% shareholding of the airport for £1.27 billion, with GIP retaining 49.99%.^{[19][20][21][22]} The transaction was concluded on 25 June 2024.^[23][24]

In December 2024, Edinburgh Airport became the first in Scotland to record over 15 million passengers in a calendar year.^[25]

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Edinburgh:^[26]

Cargo

Passenger numbers

Busiest routes

More information Rank, Destination ...

Busiest international routes from Edinburgh to (2024)

Rank	Destination	Passengers	Change 2023 to 2024
1	Dublin	738,414	2.2%
2	Amsterdam	686,089	15.5%
3	Paris-Charles de Gaulle	457,993	4.5%
4	Doha-Hamad	373,727	27.9%
5	Tenerife-South	349,605	9.2%
6	Copenhagen	273,481	23.1%
7	Frankfurt	257,445	6.1%
8	Alicante	250,608	2.8%
9	Geneva	221,909	10.4%
10	Madrid	220,861	19.4%
Source: CAA Statistics[140]

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More information Rank, Destination ...

Busiest domestic routes from Edinburgh to (2024)

Rank	Destination	Passengers	Change 2023 to 2024
1	London Heathrow	1,159,797	10.5%
2	London Stansted	693,953	15.7%
3	Belfast International	519,103	19.6%
4	London Gatwick	476,152	3.6%
5	Bristol	451,404	6.8%
6	London Luton	338,792	8.1%
7	London City	334,893	2.3%
8	Birmingham	273,132	27.4%
9	Belfast City	130,129	11.2%
10	Southampton	82,565	7.3%
Source: CAA Statistics[140]

Close

Bus

Several operators provide bus services from the airport:

• Ember - provides services to Aberdeen, Dundee, Fife, Fort William and Inverness.
• Lothian Buses - provides services from the airport and Edinburgh.^[141]
• Scottish Citylink provides services from the airport to Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Oban, Stirling & West Lothian.^[142]
• Stagecoach South Scotland - provides a service from the airport to Fife.^[143]
• Xplore Dundee - provides a service to Dundee.

A coach park also provides services by various operators.

Road

The airport lies on the A8 road, and can be reached by the M8 motorway and the M9 motorway. The airport can also be reached from the M90 motorway via the Queensferry Crossing.

Train

v t e Transport at Edinburgh Airport
Legend
to Glasgow North Clyde Line to Fife & to Dundee Forth Bridge Dalmeny Winchburgh Tunnel Edinburgh Airport Ingliston Park & Ride Gogarburn Edinburgh Gateway Gyle Centre South Gyle Edinburgh Park Central Edinburgh Park Bankhead Saughton Balgreen Murrayfield Stadium West Coast Main Line Haymarket West End Princes Street Waverley/St Andrew Sq York Place to Newhaven East Coast Main Line

The airport has no dedicated railway station. However, it is served by the nearby Edinburgh Gateway station, which serves as an interchange with Edinburgh Trams services to the airport.^[144] The tram line also connects the airport to the nearby Edinburgh Park railway station.^[145]

A more extensive Edinburgh Airport Rail Link project to provide a direct heavy rail link was cancelled in 2007 due to increasing costs.^[146]

Tram

The airport is served by Edinburgh Trams, a light rail link.

The line from the airport travels eastwards through the western suburbs and the city centre of Edinburgh before heading north to Leith, eventually terminating at Newhaven.