Edinburgh Airport Outlines Plans For Airport Development

Friday 19th September 2008

Edinburgh Airport have released details of development plans for the future of the airport. They have been released after rising costs related to the relocation of the Royal Highland Showground became apparent.

The airport development plans will call for 25.5 hectares of land outside of the airports current boundries, but it has been announced that this will not now require the relocation of the Royal Highlands Showground before the year 2020. Originally the Future Of Air Transport White Paper - published in 2003 - by the UK Government had directed the move of the Royal Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) in order for Edinburgh Airport to expand. In 2006 the Edinburgh Airport Master Plan gave more details on the development of the airport leading up to the year 2030. These plans would have meant that the RHASS would have had to move by the year 2013.

After estimates that put the cost of moving the RHASS at £350 million BAA decided against the plans as the increase in landing charges to cover the outlay would be too great. Alternative arrangements have had to be adoped in place of the original plans. These new requirements will call for an additional 25.5 hectares of land in addition to the main airport land mass, which will result in the RHASS being permitted to stay in its current location.

Speaking about the development plans Gordon Dewar, Managing Director of Edinburgh Airport commented;

"We remain committed to the long-term sustainable development of Edinburgh Airport and are continuing our ambitious £265 million capital investment plan to both expand and improve facilities for our passengers. However, we have been forced to change our longer term development plans to avoid the substantial and rising costs of relocating the showground after 2013. Our new plans provide a more cost-effective future for the development of the airport and remain in line with UK air transport policy."

We continue to believe that long-term demand at Edinburgh Airport will be strong, but at £350 million and rising, the latest cost of relocating the showground would place a considerable burden on the airlines serving Edinburgh today. The significant increase this would cause to the cost of flying to and from Edinburgh simply cannot be justified. There is also no guarantee that the costs would remain at £350 million, as we have seen several sharp increases in the last two years.

"If we are to attract more airlines and flights to Edinburgh, then we have to maintain a competitive airport, and justify every penny we charge our customers as we build an airport which serves Scotland's capital for generations. As things stand, funding the relocation of the RHASS would mean substantially higher costs for airlines and would inevitably lead to higher fares for Scots travellers. We cannot compromise Edinburgh's future by signing up to such an expensive proposal."