@GLAEDI steady figures in a fast growing market (see EDI growth rate in comparison) is a relative decline.
GLA continues to lose Scottish market share.

And yet Norwegian have shown enormous demand out of Gatwick and United maintain EDI at three daily in summer. ORD-MAN was self inflicted managed decline from AA and PHL-EDI aligns with the move out of JFK for connecting traffic. Oddly enough this shows the STRENGTH of the IAG/AA JV rather than a weakness at AA as LHR is a BA/AA fortress hub and they can connect easily to GLA whereas EDI has enough pull for inbound US visitors to remain direct


.The catchment area around MAN and LGW is far greater than GLA. Truth of the matter is and has been, both GLA and EDI are too close together. Imagine, one central airport. It would be a far better competitive prospect a d produce real opportunity for route growth and better frequencies. Alas, it will never happen.

Surely they would have just put a third 777 into GLA if that was the case?

No, hence why I asked. There was nothing on the GLA website.

Not great anyway.

Are Emirates sending a third daily flight into Scotland with EDI as well as an A380 to GLA? With Stand 30 now closed for upgrade works, are GLA spending money in vain?

Agreed, so does anyone know if GLA are spending money going A380 capable OR simply adding a second airbridge onto Stand 30 for the B777 or Virgin B744?

Terminal extension and triple airbridge being installed for completion by summer 19.

What people need to remember is that whilst Edinburgh is the darling of the tourist world and sees a huge amount of inbound passengers Glasgow is Scotland’s biggest city and so has the critical mass. This is why most of the charter and holiday destinations have historically departed from the West.

I believe that EK looked at operating the 380 previously but lack of cargo capacity was the issue. With the EDI flight some of this can move east alleviating the issue at GLA and potentially allowing the 380 to operate one of the flights.

if we look at catchment areas though, they are much closer together and the east in particular is growing at a faster rate. Airports don’t just serve the cities.

I agree the east is growing faster than the west but greater Glasgow has a population of 1.2m whereas Edinburgh has a population of under 0.5m.

As I said Edinburgh appears to have the tourists and the investment but Glasgow has a healthy catchment which is why Emirates have been flying for so long, and is why they are looking to up gauge one of the flights.

This is can all be achieved by putting an extra rotation through Edinburgh which is essentially picking up from where Etihad failed. This will take the cargo the 380 can’t and everyone is a winner. If it’s successful at Edinburgh there could be an additional daily flight but Emirates don’t appear to rush into these things so this could be a few years away.