Over four million passengers travelled through Edinburgh Airport in the four months between June and September – meaning 2014 was the busiest summer ever for the airport.
A total of 4,151,479 people travelled through Edinburgh Airport between the beginning of June and the end of September, with 987,674 passengers last month alone. This figure is a 2.9% increase on the same period in 2013 and follows two consecutive ‘million months’ in July and August.
The airport says that unprecedented development in long-haul services to the USA, Canada and the Middle East has driven this growth.
A total of 563,312 international passengers passed through the terminal last month, an increase of 6.3% on 2013. Domestic passenger numbers dropped slightly by 1.4% to 424,362 following the end of the easyJet service to London Southend.
Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “Summer 2014 has been very successful for us and seeing over four million passengers in as many months is a great achievement. Our teams have been working extremely hard and have delivered some amazing results to help give our passengers the very best experience.
“It’s also been a tremendous summer for Scotland and we should credit the amazing events of the past few months for helping us achieve such high passenger figures. The Ryder Cup saw huge numbers of visitors to Scotland and we had one of our busiest departure days ever on the 29th of September with all transatlantic flights and connections from Edinburgh full.
“September was a great month for us with a significant increase in the number of international passenger travel. This has been down to new long-haul routes to Chicago, Philadelphia and Doha, which weren’t in operation last year, and an increased frequency to Toronto with Air Canada Rouge.
“We’ve also seen strong performances from easyJet across its entire European network and Ryanair services to Dublin.”
Ecomony convener, Councillor Frank Ross, said: “These are tremendous passenger figures for Edinburgh Airport, reporting their busiest summer on record.
“Edinburgh is a top destination every summer as the August festivals get underway, but this year the city has also acted as the gateway to sport in Scotland with thousands attending the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup. These events, while situated outside the city limits, have no doubt acted as a boost.
“With Edinburgh’s trams now transporting tens of thousands of passengers to and from the Airport every week – and the new extension coming on well – this is an exciting time for the Airport, and for Edinburgh. We know that increased activity in terms of passenger numbers translates into economic benefits for the City and beyond, as well as creating new and better jobs for the local and wider economy.”
|
Edinburgh |
|||
|
2014 |
2013 |
Change |
|
|
Domestic |
424,362 |
429,738 |
-1.4% |
|
International |
563,312 |
529,206 |
6.3% |
|
Total |
987,674 |
958,944 |
2.9% |
The moving annual total for the year ending 30 September 2014 was 10,102,225.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
