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At a Glance
5 nm east of Edinburgh
Latitude : 55°57' 0"
N
Longitude : 3°22' 21"
W
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for Map
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for Aerial Photo
Elevation: 135 feet
Operated by BAA plc
Consultative Committee Contact |
IATA Identifier:
EDI
ICAO
Identifier: EGPH
Total Passengers 2006: 8,611,345
Total Movements 2006: 127,122
Runway
Length 06/24: 2560m x 46m
Runway
Length 12/30: 1798m x 46m
Address: Edinburgh Airport Limited, Edinburgh Airport,
Edinburgh, Scotland, EH12 9DN
Tel:
0131 333 1000 Fax: 0131
344 3470
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for Airport Website |
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Short History
- The airport started life as a modest military aerodrome in 1916 – the first ever aircraft landed at Turnhouse on May 22 1916.
- Turnhouse acted as a significant site for Britain 's air defence in World War Two with its own squadron: 603, which became the first squadron to shoot down an enemy aircraft on 16th October 1939.
- The first civil aircraft used Turnhouse in 1946. British European Airways scheduled the first service between Edinburgh and London, charging £8 single and £11 for a return ticket in 1947.
- The first purpose built passenger facilities were built in 1956 but by the late 1960s air travel had grown at such a rate that the passenger facilities were operating at ten times their design capacity and the runway was too short for commercial aircraft of the time.
- Ownership of Turnhouse passed to the British Airport Authority on 1st April 1971 and a major development project was set in motion. BAA invested £13m in the construction of a new terminal building, an 8,400 ft runway to the west of the airport and new taxiways.
- The terminal building was opened by the Queen on 27th May 1977. The 146,000 sq. ft. building was designed to handle 1.5 million passengers a year and had three air bridges and 10 gates.
- BAA was privatised in 1987 and Edinburgh became a wholly owned subsidiary within the group.
- Rapid expansion in the 1980s saw the airport reach two million passengers for the first time by 1988
- Pope John Paul II visited the airport on 31st May 1982
- Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev visited in 1984.
- In 1995, the original terminal building was demolished and £100m injected into the redevelopment to cater for a massive rise in passenger numbers. In the 10 years to 1997 passenger numbers jumped from 1.8m to 4.6m.
- Transport Minister Alistair Darling opened the new Air Traffic Control Tower on 7th November 2005.
- The tower has won a number of design and engineering awards.
- At present the airport supports 8,000 jobs across Scotland and directly employs 3,200 people, including 400 BAA staff.
- More than 40 airlines fly to 80 destinations and the airport handles 8.6 m passengers a year.
- The airport is expected to handle up to 13m passengers by 2013 and as many as 26 million by 2030.
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BAA Facts and Figures
The BAA's website has some useful facts and figures both about BAA as a whole and about Edinburgh in particular Top of Page |
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