City airport sees drop in numbers

Passenger numbers at Edinburgh airport were down last year compared to the figure for the previous year.

A total of 9.2 million passengers travelled through the airport, around 190,000 less than 2011 – a drop of two per cent.

The figures for December show 580,772 passengers used the airport, down 1.8 per cent on 2011, with domestic travel dropping 0.6 per cent and international passenger numbers falling 3.4 per cent.

Bosses said it had been a “challenging year” for the airport but that they were optimistic of seeing growth in the 12 months ahead as new routes are opened up. Gordon Dewar, the airport’s chief executive, said: “It’s clear that we lost some momentum at the beginning of the year due to the sales process and the last months of BAA ownership.

“However, I am delighted that with the work done on new route development since the airport was purchased by GIP, 2013 will see us offer  Scottish passengers over 130 routes.

“Clearly, I wish to see this figure grow, but it’s a fantastic start to the year given what we’ve been through.

“New routes from easyJet, Ryanair, Air Canada and Virgin Atlantic all mean that we will be offering our passengers more choice than ever before.”