Originally Posted by
Skipness One Foxtrot
What is very evident is that EDI growth was intentionally constrained at a group level by Scottish Airports who intended GLA to be Scotland's flagship airport.
However open competition has led to further market fragmentation with growth in long haul firmly in the East alongside connectivity to major airlines.
I think this is a bit of a simplistic view of what's been happening over the years. There have been two other very important changes in the market over the years that have contributed to the shift:
1) Devolution - Re-instating the Scottish parliament.
Edinburgh was always been seen as Scotland's secondary city, playing second fiddle to Glasgow due to it's size. With the reinstatement of the parliament, Edinburgh got it's voice back, and it's international profile increased noticeably. This lead to a boost in both tourism and business in the city, driving increased demand.
2) Low Cost Revolution
Glasgow was traditionally the holiday gateway for Scots, and most major tour operators based their aircraft solely in Glasgow. The population of Edinburgh largely accepted that if they wanted to take a break in Spain etc., then they would need to travel from Glasgow. Flights from Edinburgh were almost non existent. That all changed with the low cost revolution. The low cost airlines were quick to spot the market in Edinburgh, and based their aircraft there before they did in Glasgow. Think FlyGlobespan, later to be replaced by Jet2. Easyjet and Ryanair were quick to enter the market here too. As the traditional charter carriers began to struggle and cut capacity, only then did they move in to Glasgow to take them on there.
Now I do believe there was a bit of a categorisation policy in play, but I don't think it had as big an affect as is stated. It certainly benefited the charter carriers to operate from a single base and encourage Edinburgh passengers to travel through to Glasgow to take flights. If there was a policy in place, I don't think they would have taken much persuading to follow it. As an example, look how quick they were to complain about being forced to use PIK for long haul flights. There was no legal challenge over being forced to use GLA over EDI for sunshine destinations.
BAA invested in the longhaul facilities in GLA at the expense of EDI, and airlines simply went were the facilities were.
Lets not forget Continental were operating in to EDI before the BAA ownership monopoly was broken up. The surge in low cost airlines and decline in package tour operators was also well underway before then too.