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Edinburgh-3

Old 2nd Aug 2018, 21:38
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QR Timetables showing Qatar reverting to the smaller 787-8 next year, was that always to be the plan?
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Old 2nd Aug 2018, 21:47
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Edinburgh is awful these days - I cannot see how the airport management don't wish to sort it out. There is no air conditioning upstairs, the place is so hot and humid. There are no seats, even in the eating establishments and you queue everywhere; car park, check-in, security, cafes and boarding.

I'm based in EDI and it is the worst airport I fly into or out of. Lack of stands means frequent waiting after landing, then when you get a stand there is normally a wait for guidance, then a wait for staff as the stand was a change from planned. Then when ready to go you queue on the way to the runway after being stuck in the cul-de-sac beforehand. ATC do a great job of trying to keep things moving but there are simply more aircraft than the place and cope with. The airport management have done a wonderful job of attracting new routes, the selection from Edinburgh is excellent these days but the experience passengers receive due to poor infrastructure is appalling.
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Old 2nd Aug 2018, 22:16
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Originally Posted by CabinCrewe
QR Timetables showing Qatar reverting to the smaller 787-8 next year, was that always to be the plan?
Business class is full pretty much every day on the a350 and the extra cargo space is required, still early days.
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Old 2nd Aug 2018, 22:38
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Originally Posted by C172Navigator
Edinburgh is awful these days - I cannot see how the airport management don't wish to sort it out. There is no air conditioning upstairs, the place is so hot and humid. There are no seats, even in the eating establishments and you queue everywhere; car park, check-in, security, cafes and boarding.

I'm based in EDI and it is the worst airport I fly into or out of. Lack of stands means frequent waiting after landing, then when you get a stand there is normally a wait for guidance, then a wait for staff as the stand was a change from planned. Then when ready to go you queue on the way to the runway after being stuck in the cul-de-sac beforehand. ATC do a great job of trying to keep things moving but there are simply more aircraft than the place and cope with. The airport management have done a wonderful job of attracting new routes, the selection from Edinburgh is excellent these days but the experience passengers receive due to poor infrastructure is appalling.
Why do so many of you regular commentators constantly moan about the airport. The reality is that no current or future Scottish or UK Gov would sign off on significantly expanded EDI because of the Environmental Loby and Legally binding emission reduction targets. In addition who would put up the huge sums of cash needed (look at Manchester for example) to completely redevelop the airport from scratch. The volumes and ROCE is just not there now or in the future. It’s a pipe dream so please stop moaning and complaining because the reality is it’s not going to significantly change in our lifetime.

EDI is frankly no worse than many other airports around the world. We all don’t like get buses in from remote stands (EDI has plenty stands free every time I am through which is often) but this reality is the same for almost every major airport around the world. I have been bused in Dubai, Amsterdam, Istanbul Washington, Moscow etc. All these airports have their own faults, own queue issues and lack of this or poor that.

Bring on more routes, yes please....
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Old 2nd Aug 2018, 23:07
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The airport didn’t seem that bad to me although some parts of the terminal did seem rather tired and needed a bit of a makeover or at least a good clean and a lick of paint.

For an airport serving a capital city though it was sadly lacking and has the feel of a larger UK regional airport rather than the only airport serving a country’s capital.
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Old 2nd Aug 2018, 23:14
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Oh Lord - this is beginning to resemble the Manchester thread where a chosen few defend the airport to the hilt yet elect to overlook the bloody awful experience that customers are having on a daily basis at the airport. In this instance, there is a subtle difference in that one airport in the same group (LGW) is broadly performing very well whereas EDI still has some way to go, unlike MAG where MAN, STN and EMA seem to attempt to out-do each other for most dreadful customer experience. I fly very regularly (a quiet week is two or three flights and I hit 200 flights last year) and have first-hand experience of all. EDI is not the worst but a long way off the best. From that experience, the difference at EDI is the sheer unpredictability of security given the random tensabarrier routes versus LGW which is predictable and where you have a feeling that you can influence the outcome by choosing a shorter queue. At EDI, what looks to be the shorter queue never turns out to be so.

The growth aspirations at Edinburgh are such that the product needs to be delivered with much greater consistency. Continuing to ram several million more passengers through infrastructure designed for far less is a recipe for trouble, particularly as airlines operating shorter routes with road and rail competition see customers voting with their feet. Looking at the CAA June stats, that's already happening on MAN-EDI. Equally, if you don't get security right, your airside spend goes down as customers have less time. That drop in spend means the airport has to increase its airline charges which in turn means less attractive airline deals to keep the growth going. That's a day-to-day issue and the answer isn't a growth project in three years time as that's too late to influence customer choices today or tomorrow.

So no matter how much you want to see your local airport succeed - and you have every right to want that - then please at least consider the customer in all this. We'll otherwise end up with a Manchester-style thread of a select few aiming for limitless growth on totally inadequate airport infrastructure. It's an unhappy mix and a healthy dose of realism is needed.
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 08:13
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Skischoolsam - I moan about the airport because I have to use it regularly and find the experience awful compared to other airports I use regularly, particularly Gatwick. I resent the fact that the management seem hell bent on increasing pax numbers with no consideration for the customers they already have and appear to be incapable of proper forward planning. A good example is the "new" security facility. It opened what, two or three years ago max and is already overwhelmed at times. I do not know whether EDI is "coordinated" (but I am sure someone on here will tell us) but if it is more attention should be paid to terminal capacity, not just runway availability, and if it's not it should be. My next trip to Edinburgh will be in about two weeks time and I've already decided to drive this time.
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 08:27
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Why do so many of you regular commentators constantly moan about the airport. The reality is that no current or future Scottish or UK Gov would sign off on significantly expanded EDI because of the Environmental Loby and Legally binding emission reduction targets. In addition who would put up the huge sums of cash needed (look at Manchester for example) to completely redevelop the airport from scratch. The volumes and ROCE is just not there now or in the future. It’s a pipe dream so please stop moaning and complaining because the reality is it’s not going to significantly change in our lifetime.

EDI is frankly no worse than many other airports around the world. We all don’t like get buses in from remote stands (EDI has plenty stands free every time I am through which is often) but this reality is the same for almost every major airport around the world. I have been bused in Dubai, Amsterdam, Istanbul Washington, Moscow etc. All these airports have their own faults, own queue issues and lack of this or poor that.

Bring on more routes, yes please....
You say you travel but having seen how much better others can do this, you suggest Scotland settles for the status quo?
Was there an ROI on nuclear power or the channel tunnel? No. Worth remembering that all three Scottish Lowland Airports were built to a decent standard by the taxpayer as a significant piece of national infrastructure. For example, in the US, that famed home of capitalism with stars and stripes, many airports run at a loss. Why? Because local government sees them as a driver of inbound tourism and business? Now have you seen just how much business EDI brings into Scotland? You can't move on the Royal Mile for Americans and Chinese coach parties in the summer. Second largest inbound destination in the UK.
So when you roll your eyes and say "the ROI just isn't there", what you really mean "short term shareholder profit just isn't there fast enough", which is why the plans for Scotland's busiest airport, our gateway to the world are c**p. The owners, being wholly private, will spend as little as they think they can get away with, exactly like Scottish Airports who splashed the cash on GLA as Scotland's long haul hub.
Are the EDI expansion plans remotely aspirational or risky? No, because that's modern Scotland (my homeland). That'll dae me ! written in corrugated iron.
BTW how are you getting all these new routes
Bring on more routes, yes please....
in a building that literally cannot deal with peak summer without huge delays.

Could it be better? Yes.
Should it be better? Yes
Will it better? No because Scotland just has no ambition, the best wee country in the world.
Ironically given the new bridge just over the hill, is there actually some determination left in Holyrood?
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 11:14
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The main terminal extension has not even opened yet. That has still to come along with a significant increase to the number of stands. Work is in progress but these things do not happen overnight. Having said that. I think the place will be a continuous building site for the next ten or so years as they struggle to match capacity to demand. Its great that proper investment is now going in though but the current projects wont solve all of the problems.

I have definitely used worse airports though, a few of which are also in the UK.
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 11:47
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Worse airports serving a Capital City?
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 12:16
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Originally Posted by willy wombat
Worse airports serving a Capital City?
All sorts of cities.
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 12:44
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Part of the problem, and it's the same at Manchester, is that long-term investment plans are confused with short-term customer experience. The fact that the airport is doing X,Y and Z to build more space is lovely but when you're one of the 1.4 million passengers going through Edinburgh in June and it's an awful set-up, you really couldn't care two hoots about a building project and won't want to do it again in a hurry. The only answer is for the airports to slow down the growth rate through terminal capacity declarations until the new infrastructure is in place to cope with it. The current limits are set too high. With MAG, my experiences suggest it's common across all three airports (MAN, STN and EMA). What surprises me about EDI is that Gatwick is so much better and GIP clearly recognise standards.
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 13:26
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Originally Posted by willy wombat
Worse airports serving a Capital City?
Berlin knows how to mess up an airport.
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 14:48
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What surprises me about EDI is that Gatwick is so much better and GIP clearly recognise standards.
I thnk GIP really thought they needed to vastly improve Gatwick when they first bought it out with a view to go head to head with LHR for the new runway for London. BAA had let LGW slide as they built T5 and planned the T2 rebuild for LHR. To be taken at all seriously in the recent battle, they had to invest heavily with a view that winning would make it all worth it.
Once the new Stands 15/16 are fully in use, they have four narrow body or two wide body gates, which will still be tight for next summer. Is there a plan to extend the SE pier down to the corner where flybe are banished on 34?
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 15:27
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New central Scottish Airport anyone?
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 18:08
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Long haul - no choice, and with Emirates finally seeing the light and starting flights from EDI, a welcome addition.
Short haul (London) - train is quicker city centre to city centre and a lot less hassle.

Security outbound has improved marginally, but all the lanes need to be staffed. Security inbound needs 3X or more electronic passport scanners as everyone has one these days. This is basic bad management and those in charge need to pull their fingers out or be replaced.
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 19:31
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Originally Posted by willy wombat
Worse airports serving a Capital City?
Berlin SXF is a lot worse than EDI.

EDI may be cramped, but the situation at SXF is even worse. That airport is not only overcrowded, it's filthy and the staff couldn't care less either. It's the most un-German airport in the country.
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 21:02
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Originally Posted by On the beach
... and with Emirates finally seeing the light and starting flights from EDI..
And Etihad's light being extinguished.
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Old 3rd Aug 2018, 21:51
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Just because Edinburgh is not the worst airport in the world doesn't mean it is good. If I happened to be a manager there I would be ashamed. All of my colleagues dislike Edinburgh as a place to work from, Glasgow is a far easier day out. But Edinburgh could be great, the look of the place is much improved - more seats, air-conditioning and better security would all be simple steps the management could take. More stands and better stand allocation might take longer to resolve. The infrastructure outside makes getting in and out on time very difficult, made even harder recently by the use of remote stands so often. Waiting for buses, wheelchairs or fuel on these stands makes a 30 minute turnaround almost impossible.
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Old 7th Aug 2018, 20:42
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Seen that today Blue Panorama/Blu Express operated a flight to and from FCO with 737-400 9H-AMW.

Just curious what this was for or who it was operated for as it didn’t show up on Edinburgh nor FCO Departure boards, and I can’t see any relevant football/sports that it could be chartered for.
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