This is why Ryanair passengers are being asked to arrive at Edinburgh Airport even earlier for the next five months

Passengers are being told to arrive at least two and a half hours before their flights at Edinburgh Airport (Photo: Edinburgh Airport)

Ryanair wrote to passengers saying that they now needed to arrive at least two and a half hours before their flight leaves due to the ongoing changes to the check-in area of the airport.

The £35 million upgrade of Edinburgh Airport's baggage system is already underway with disruption expected to last until March 2020 and the new system fully installed by 2021.

Passengers will have to check-in their luggage as normal before taking it down to two 'injection points' in the hall.

Baggage handlers will then load it on to the belt for the bags to processed as normal, however Ryanair have warned passengers the process could take longer than normal.

In an email to passengers, they wrote: "Edinburgh Airport are making changes to the check in area as part of their terminal improvement works to enhance customer experience.

"We would like to advise all customers travelling from Edinburgh Airport from now up until the end of March 2020 to leave enough time, preferably 2.5 hours, to drop your bags off and pass through Airport security.

"Signs will be displayed in the terminal directing customers to areas where they can check their bags in."

New technology being installed

The airport's improvements will see brand new technology being installed for scanning and sorting luggage and sections of the airport being renovated to accommodate it.

Jet2's check-in area has already been reduced, with easyJet also moved out of the main check-in hall next to Jet2.

All of the airport's airlines will be using the injection points by the end of October, with the airport warning passengers to be aware of the changes.

The work was planned for the winter to ensure minimal disruption to passengers during the off-peak season.

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: "The upgrade of our baggage system will see the current system being entirely replaced with the most up to date technology available and will make the baggage check-in process easier for passengers.

"The project also allows us to reconfigure parts of the hall to create more space and improve the passenger experience.

“Making the majority of these changes out with peak periods will reduce any potential impact on passengers and to do that we will have to temporarily move some airlines into other areas.

"We would encourage passengers to look out for the signs in the terminal directing you to where they should check-in and always leave enough time to check-in, drop your bags and for your journey through security.”