Second runway plan for EDI
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Joined: Dec 2000
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From: Luton
Second runway plan for EDI
A SECOND runway is set to be built at Edinburgh’s rapidly growing airport to meet long-term increases in demand, The Scotsman has learned.
Amid huge rises in passenger numbers at airports across Scotland, government transport officials are examining the proposal as part of a major consultation on the development of the industry over the next 30 years.
The document, which is expected to be published in May or June, follows a series of wide-ranging studies and will pave the way for firm proposals in a white paper.
Yesterday, Edinburgh Airport’s boom continued as it recorded another huge rise in passenger figures, up almost 22 per cent last month compared to March 2001. Glasgow Airport also saw a big growth in numbers, up 5.3 per cent to 7.3 million passengers.
The focus of the consultation on the future of British airports is likely to be on the more immediate problem of providing much-needed extra runway capacity to ease congestion at airports around London.
However, Whitehall officials are also thought to favour expanding Edinburgh Airport in the long term if the city continues to boom.
Industry experts said further development of Edinburgh, which has undergone major changes in recent years, was "highly desirable". Business leaders said the growth of the airport would be welcomed because of bottlenecks in travelling at certain times.
Last month, 561,300 passengers used Edinburgh Airport, up 21.9 per cent on last March.
It was also the second month in a row that Edinburgh had beaten the traditionally dominant Glasgow airport, which saw passengers grow by just 7.9 per cent to 535,500.
Over the last year, Edinburgh Airport’s growth has been more than double that of Glasgow, with an 11.6 per cent increase in passengers to 6.26 million compared to Glasgow’s 5.3 per cent rise to 7.33 million.
BAA, which runs both airports, said the Edinburgh increase last month was mostly due to two international rugby matches, with an extra 40 flights being put on from France and Ireland. However, passenger traffic at Edinburgh also rose by 19.1 per cent in February.
The airport has benefited from the city’s booming economy and a surge in scheduled flights among both full-price and budget airlines. Go, EasyJet and Ryanair have increased services on London routes and boosted flights to other destinations, such as Amsterdam and Dublin, and developing hubs such as Bristol and the East Midlands.
The BAA figures also showed a second consecutive month of overall passenger growth across its seven UK airports, which include Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, following the slump after the 11 September attacks.
Total passengers rose 3.4 per cent in March to 10.1 million compared to a year ago, and were up 8.2 per cent on the previous month.
Mike Clasper, BAA’s deputy chief executive, told a major conference on airport capacity in London this week: "We will not be making any recommendations to the government on the location of new runways."
However, he hinted at the development of airports like Edinburgh when he said: "It is eco-efficient to make the fullest use of regional airports to satisfy the demands from passengers and businesses in those regions."
However, Mr Clasper said existing airport capacity should be used as efficiently as possible before any new concrete is laid.
National Air Traffic Services said it would be able to provide extra air-traffic control capacity for any expansion of Edinburgh airport because of the likely long lead-in time for such a project. NATS put the planned replacement for its Prestwick control centre on hold following 11 September, but the project is expected to be revived.
The Department of Transport said details of the airport consultation exercise had yet to be finalised. A spokeswoman said: "Ministers have not decided what options to include in the consultation. The document will consider how we should respond to the development of air travel over the next 30 years, with responses informing a future aviation white paper."
Amid huge rises in passenger numbers at airports across Scotland, government transport officials are examining the proposal as part of a major consultation on the development of the industry over the next 30 years.
The document, which is expected to be published in May or June, follows a series of wide-ranging studies and will pave the way for firm proposals in a white paper.
Yesterday, Edinburgh Airport’s boom continued as it recorded another huge rise in passenger figures, up almost 22 per cent last month compared to March 2001. Glasgow Airport also saw a big growth in numbers, up 5.3 per cent to 7.3 million passengers.
The focus of the consultation on the future of British airports is likely to be on the more immediate problem of providing much-needed extra runway capacity to ease congestion at airports around London.
However, Whitehall officials are also thought to favour expanding Edinburgh Airport in the long term if the city continues to boom.
Industry experts said further development of Edinburgh, which has undergone major changes in recent years, was "highly desirable". Business leaders said the growth of the airport would be welcomed because of bottlenecks in travelling at certain times.
Last month, 561,300 passengers used Edinburgh Airport, up 21.9 per cent on last March.
It was also the second month in a row that Edinburgh had beaten the traditionally dominant Glasgow airport, which saw passengers grow by just 7.9 per cent to 535,500.
Over the last year, Edinburgh Airport’s growth has been more than double that of Glasgow, with an 11.6 per cent increase in passengers to 6.26 million compared to Glasgow’s 5.3 per cent rise to 7.33 million.
BAA, which runs both airports, said the Edinburgh increase last month was mostly due to two international rugby matches, with an extra 40 flights being put on from France and Ireland. However, passenger traffic at Edinburgh also rose by 19.1 per cent in February.
The airport has benefited from the city’s booming economy and a surge in scheduled flights among both full-price and budget airlines. Go, EasyJet and Ryanair have increased services on London routes and boosted flights to other destinations, such as Amsterdam and Dublin, and developing hubs such as Bristol and the East Midlands.
The BAA figures also showed a second consecutive month of overall passenger growth across its seven UK airports, which include Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, following the slump after the 11 September attacks.
Total passengers rose 3.4 per cent in March to 10.1 million compared to a year ago, and were up 8.2 per cent on the previous month.
Mike Clasper, BAA’s deputy chief executive, told a major conference on airport capacity in London this week: "We will not be making any recommendations to the government on the location of new runways."
However, he hinted at the development of airports like Edinburgh when he said: "It is eco-efficient to make the fullest use of regional airports to satisfy the demands from passengers and businesses in those regions."
However, Mr Clasper said existing airport capacity should be used as efficiently as possible before any new concrete is laid.
National Air Traffic Services said it would be able to provide extra air-traffic control capacity for any expansion of Edinburgh airport because of the likely long lead-in time for such a project. NATS put the planned replacement for its Prestwick control centre on hold following 11 September, but the project is expected to be revived.
The Department of Transport said details of the airport consultation exercise had yet to be finalised. A spokeswoman said: "Ministers have not decided what options to include in the consultation. The document will consider how we should respond to the development of air travel over the next 30 years, with responses informing a future aviation white paper."
Joined: Nov 2000
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From: Planet Claire
Yeah, right. So suddenly they are going to stick in a third runway.
How come they can't even find the money (or interest) to put in the desperately needed taxiway extensions then? If they ever build another runway at EDI i'll be bloody amazed!
How come they can't even find the money (or interest) to put in the desperately needed taxiway extensions then? If they ever build another runway at EDI i'll be bloody amazed!
