Edinburgh-4
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It would be interesting to know what the cost to the airport would be for pre clearance. It sounds as if the money might be better spent on infrastructure.
I strongly doubt it would attract new airlines or routes. The truth is that airlines are not hugely interested in how long it takes passengers to clear immigration, particularly if the pre clearance is reflected in the ticket price. If an airline sees potential financial benefit from a route, it willl try it, irrespective of facilities. Where it makes a difference is if an airport has a based airline which can funnel passengers between e.g. European and US flights. Edinburgh has no prospect of this (only LHR or LGW do in UK).
Given that such a large percentage of EDI passengers have US passports, it is of limited benefit. Would be better at LGW or MAN which have larger passenger numbers to US, paticulary off season, with a much higher percentage of non US passport holders. But they have traditionally been cool on the pre clearance idea. There must be a good reason for that which Mr.Dewar is unaware of.
I strongly doubt it would attract new airlines or routes. The truth is that airlines are not hugely interested in how long it takes passengers to clear immigration, particularly if the pre clearance is reflected in the ticket price. If an airline sees potential financial benefit from a route, it willl try it, irrespective of facilities. Where it makes a difference is if an airport has a based airline which can funnel passengers between e.g. European and US flights. Edinburgh has no prospect of this (only LHR or LGW do in UK).
Given that such a large percentage of EDI passengers have US passports, it is of limited benefit. Would be better at LGW or MAN which have larger passenger numbers to US, paticulary off season, with a much higher percentage of non US passport holders. But they have traditionally been cool on the pre clearance idea. There must be a good reason for that which Mr.Dewar is unaware of.
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I strongly doubt it would attract new airlines or routes. The truth is that airlines are not hugely interested in how long it takes passengers to clear immigration, particularly if the pre clearance is reflected in the ticket price. If an airline sees potential financial benefit from a route, it willl try it, irrespective of facilities. Where it makes a difference is if an airport has a based airline which can funnel passengers between e.g. European and US flights. Edinburgh has no prospect of this (only LHR or LGW do in UK).
- It reduces the minimum connection time at the US hub, so reduces the risk of connecting passengers being delayed at immigration and missing their onward flight and airlines having to spend time rebooking passengers.
- They are charged a lower per-passenger handling fee at the US hub since the passengers are effectively domestic passengers and don't need to use the customs and immigration facility.
- Passengers who are denied entry are kept on foreign soil and don't have to be processed and deported once they arrive on US soil as is currently the case, so saving the cost of repatriating inadmissible passengers.
Given that such a large percentage of EDI passengers have US passports, it is of limited benefit. Would be better at LGW or MAN which have larger passenger numbers to US, paticulary off season, with a much higher percentage of non US passport holders. But they have traditionally been cool on the pre clearance idea. There must be a good reason for that which Mr.Dewar is unaware of.
In your opinion, should the airport be granted US Pre-clearance, would this lead to continued growth and new routes being secured? EDI management believe this would happen.
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Join Date: May 2002
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I strongly doubt it would attract new airlines or routes. The truth is that airlines are not hugely interested in how long it takes passengers to clear immigration, particularly if the pre clearance is reflected in the ticket price. If an airline sees potential financial benefit from a route, it willl try it, irrespective of facilities. Where it makes a difference is if an airport has a based airline which can funnel passengers between e.g. European and US flights. Edinburgh has no prospect of this (only LHR or LGW do in UK).
It may also encourage passengers to drive up to Edinburgh instead of flying through Manchester or Glasgow, as well as encouraging people to fly from Edinbugh instead of connecting elsewhere.
I t might affect Glasgow but certainly not Manchester - the travel times from south of the border are too long - tho maybe you'd pick up some Newcastle area transatlantic traffic
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I'm not saying it's going to devastate Manchester, but it might well attract a few passengers.It's only 3 hours on the train to Edinburgh, so some might well consider it. For those in Carlisle it's a definite swing towards flying from Edinburgh rather than Manchester. All together, you might attract enough passengers to justify it.
not from Carlisle.....................
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Is pre-clearance as big a draw as it once was? It makes more sense in Ireland as Irish citizens aren't eligible for Global Entry but given that any semi-regular traveller to the US would be well advised to get Global Entry, which allows them to use much shorter lines and an expedited process, is this as important as it would've been 15/20 years ago - particularly if the CBP photo recognition system eventually delivers what it promises.
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Is pre-clearance as big a draw as it once was? It makes more sense in Ireland as Irish citizens aren't eligible for Global Entry but given that any semi-regular traveller to the US would be well advised to get Global Entry, which allows them to use much shorter lines and an expedited process, is this as important as it would've been 15/20 years ago - particularly if the CBP photo recognition system eventually delivers what it promises.
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Many Europeans still can't use Global Entry and many people don't know about it. It's also a big pull for many once a year flyers. I know several families who specifically booked their Orlando flights with Aer Lingus connecting in Dublin because they heard about pre-clearance.
Last edited by Planeraz; 30th Aug 2023 at 16:12.
You're not getting a pre-clearance facility for £5 million, that's an unrealistically low number. Why would EDI get US pre clearance when it has only 2 flights per day for 1/2 the year? Given United and Delta use different sides of the terminal in summer given the limited number of gates, can someone provide some explanation of how they actually plan to do this and for so little money in comparison to Dublin?
It really sounds like a lot of fanfare that will lead to nought beyond raising the visibility of EDI for a sale or for more US flights, nothing wrong with either but I genuinely don't see an EDI CBP facility as a realistic outcome.
It really sounds like a lot of fanfare that will lead to nought beyond raising the visibility of EDI for a sale or for more US flights, nothing wrong with either but I genuinely don't see an EDI CBP facility as a realistic outcome.
Join Date: Jun 2023
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Looks like Ryanair have made some cuts at EDI over the winter. Alicante is down from 7 to 3 flights. Budapest down from 5 to 4 and Bucharest is down from 3 to 2 weekly.
I haven’t had the chance to check the rest yet
I haven’t had the chance to check the rest yet
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Alicante - 7 down to 3
Bucharest - 3 down to 2
Budapest - 4 down to 3
Copenhagen - 6 down to 3
Cork - 14 down to 8
Dublin - 30 down to 26
Dusseldorf Weeze - 3 down to 2
Fuertevenura - 3 down to 2
Gdansk - 4 down to 2
Lanzarote - 6 down to 5
Prague - 3 down to 2
Shannon - 4 down to 3
Vienna - 3 down to 2
Toulouse and Valencia are currently not on sale anymore