World City Guide

Getting There By Air

Edinburgh International Airport (EDI)
Tel: (0870) 0400 007. Fax: (0131) 344 3470.
Website: www.baa.com

Scotland’s, and one of Europe’s, fastest growing airports is located 12km (8 miles) west of Edinburgh. A new multi-storey car park and control tower were completed in 2005 with plans mooted for a second runway and massive expansion programme to cater for spiralling demand. Edinburgh International Airport serves over eight million passengers and over 60 destinations worldwide. There are more than 30 flights to London’s five airports every day, with regular flights to other major cities in the UK and overseas. Since summer 2004, direct transatlantic links have been available from Edinburgh.

Major airlines: British Midland (tel: (0870) 607 0555; website: www.flybmi.com) and British Airways (tel: (0870) 850 9850; website: www.britishairways.com) are the main scheduled carriers. Low cost carriers with rapidly expanding routes from Edinburgh include Flyglobespan and Easyjet with other carriers using Edinburgh including Air France, Air Scotland, Continental, Flybe, KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair and Scot Airways.

Approximate flight times to Edinburgh: From London is around 1 hour and from New York 8 hours 30 minutes.

Airport facilities: Facilities include bureaux de change, information desk, Edinburgh Tourist Board office, hotel reservations, left-luggage; lost property, shops (including a newsagent and gift shops), duty-free shops, first aid, bars, restaurants and car hire from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Europcar, National and Hertz.

Business facilities: British Airways, British Midland and Servisair (tel: (0131) 344 3304; website: www.servisair.com) all provide executive lounges with telephone, fax and computer facilities.

Departure tax: Included in fare.

Transport to the city: Lothian Buses (tel: (0131) 555 6363; website: www.flybybus.com) run an airport shuttle service from the terminal forecourt to the city centre terminus at Waverley Bridge (situated above Waverley railway station) via Haymarket station (journey time – 25 minutes). These buses operate every 8 to 10 minutes, 0650-0020 Monday to Saturday (then less frequently 0020-0650), 0925-0020 Sunday (then less frequently during the night). A single fare costs £3. Taxis are available from the taxi rank to the east of the terminal or by calling Airport Taxis (tel: (0131) 344 3344). A trip to the city centre (journey time – 20 minutes) costs approximately £20. Access to the city by car is along the A8.