I have noticed that BA and bmi do not check ID at the gate and have often wondered how or indeed why they get away with it. I have not flown international with either for a while, but in my experience, the last 3 or 4 years neither have asked for ID at any UK airport.
So how is following situation prevented?
Jimmy and John book a flight EDI-LHR.
Jimmy can't go anymore, but Johns brother Jack wants to go instead.
John and Jack turn up at EDI, don't have a bag, so check in at a kiosk using the reference number provided at time of booking and Johns credit card as verification.
No one asks for ID at any stage (not needed when passing through security at EDI) so Jack gets a free ride to LHR and BA/bmi lose out on a name change fee.
I'm assuming BA do check ID at the gate for international flights to avoid potential visa irregularities, if not then Jack could go on to get a free ride to Rome, for example.
Just doesn't seem right to me. Every other airline I have been with and have worked with is vigilant at checking ID at the gate.
As someone else said, it will be interesting to see what the new owners do with EDI, if a dedicated domestic area is needed then it shouldn't be too hard to bring about. Just make gates along the SE Pier domestic and revamp the remaining areas to handle international, or something along those lines. If outgoing passport checks are ever re-introduced in the UK then that'll be a bit more of a challenge for EDI, due to lmited space, but simply splitting pax traffic to go to either side of the building wouldn't require much thought.