Edinburgh Airport has broken records yet again after seeing more than 1.1 million passengers travel through its terminal in July.
Following its record-breaking summer last year, Scotland’s busiest airport has eclipsed its previous July passenger total, making it the first airport in Scottish history to reach this milestone.
A total of 1,104,264 people passed through the airport last month – an increase of 1.8% on the same period in 2013. International passenger numbers saw an increase of 4.0% on the previous year with 661,220 passengers. Domestic passenger saw a slight decrease of 1.3% with 443,044 people.
These figures represent another step in Edinburgh Airport’s journey to continue growing by providing Scottish passengers with the very best choice of destinations.
July’s international traffic was driven by Scots flying off on their annual summer holidays to traditional sunshine destinations like Portugal, Spain and Majorca. A handful of Thomson charter services to Cancun and Florida also increased the international passenger flow.
Edinburgh’s successful summer began with the launch of a host of new long and short-haul routes to Crete, Zurich, Chicago, Doha and Philadelphia, plus the recent announcement that Etihad Airways will be launching from Edinburgh in June next year.
Edinburgh Airport first surpassed the one million passenger mark last summer where it welcomed over two million passengers between July and August.
Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “Breaking the 1.1 million passenger mark in July was another milestone for us and I’m delighted to be celebrating this with our teams across the airport who work hard to give passengers a great experience. To put it into context, the 1,104,264 airline tickets we processed in July could stretch almost twice the height of our air traffic control tower.
“The next few weeks and months will be hugely exciting for us as we welcome passengers from all over the world to Scotland for our famous festivals and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. We’re also nearing completion of our brand new terminal extension which should be operational from October, offering our passengers a more efficient and enjoyable airport experience.”
July saw almost 10,800 aircraft movements at Edinburgh Airport which, when added together, carried enough passengers to fill 220 Sir Chris Hoy Velodromes and 4400 Boeing 787 Dreamliners!
The news has been welcomed by city leaders. Councillor Frank Ross, Economy Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Today’s figures come on the back of Edinburgh Airport’s busiest June on record and the equivalent of twice the population of Scotland using the Airport in just one year. The rise of international travellers using the Airport in July is great news for the city’s economy as more visitors enjoying the city will lead to the creation of new jobs.
“With trams transporting tens of thousands of passengers to and from the Airport every week and the new extension coming on well, this is an exciting time for the Airport, and for Edinburgh.”
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