A SCOTTISH airport is celebrating after achieving a record-breaking feat for the Scots aviation industry.
Edinburgh Airport announced yesterday that in 2018, it had the busiest ever year for any Scottish airport in history.
The airport saw more than
14 million passengers travel through its terminals, a 65% increase on the previous year.
Gordon Dewar, the airport’s chief executive, welcomed the figures.
He said: “We’re delighted to deliver yet another record year for a Scottish airport which highlights the incredible appetite there is for travel to and from Scotland.
“Our success is also down to our airline and business partners, and of course our staff who keep airport operations running smoothly. It is our staff who are the unsung heroes who make every day a big day for someone at our airport and I thank them for the work that they do.”
The news follows another key moment for the airport, after it reached 1m passengers in December for the first time ever. Some 1,027,125 people passed through – an 11% year-on-year increase.
Edinburgh Airport also introduced a total of 23 routes last year and Dewar adds this has helped figures grow.
“From the Middle East to the Far East and Europe to America, we offer more than 150 destinations from Edinburgh and it’s that variety of choice which is driving our growth. Be it a city break in Copenhagen, a business conference in London or a family holiday to Dubai, we are catering across the spectrum.
“New routes and destinations for 2019 have already been announced and we’ll continue to add growth where we can. The uncertainty around Brexit obviously poses challenges and it’s crucial that we at least preserve access to that single aviation market that allows flights to pass freely through European skies, connecting Scotland to the whole of Europe.”
He added: “We also need to see movement on the pledge to cut Air Passenger Duty so we can continue to be competitive against other nations and harness the full potential of our industry and bolster the economy through tourism.”
A further 11 routes are set to be introduced in 2019, including services to Philadelphia and Corfu.
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