Edinburgh Airport - General Thread

[Aviador]

It's probably through inbound tourism.

 

[Jerry]

It's probably through inbound tourism.

Yep Edinburgh is a popular destination for American tourists also there is some finance sector connections and of course the oil industry in Scotland.

 

[GeorgeNTravels]

It's probably through inbound tourism.

Correct, in 2024 the US-EDI market sat at 72% US travellers and 28% non US travellers, summary of yearly breakdown since 2019 below.

All data taken from US Department of Commerce, its worth pointing out winter tends to be more NON-US heavy, but has seen a drop in that category in the first two months of this year.

Year	Total Pax Number	US	NON-US
2025 (So far)	18,600	8,342 (44.8%)	10,258 (55.2%)
2024	542,325	390,364 (72%)	151,961 (28%)
2023	515,023	357,752 (69.5%)	157,271 (30.5%)
2022	344,513	229,508 (66.6%)	115,005 (33.4%)
2021	456	405 (88.8%)	51 (11.2%)
2020	35,372	12,936 (36.6%)	22,436 (63.4%)
2019	392,483	261,160 (66.5%)	131,323 (33.5%)

 

[Jerry]

Edinburgh is no18 in Heathrow top routes with 1.1 million passengers

What are the 24 routes from Heathrow with over 1 million passengers?

Heathrow Airport has revealed the 25 routes which have over 1 million annual passengers. New York is obviously the busiest but the rest are interesting.

www.headforpoints.com

 

[Jetsco]

Edinburgh is no18 in Heathrow top routes with 1.1 million passengers

What are the 24 routes from Heathrow with over 1 million passengers?

Heathrow Airport has revealed the 25 routes which have over 1 million annual passengers. New York is obviously the busiest but the rest are interesting.

www.headforpoints.com

EDI continues to grow at a tremendous rate. Interestingly however, domestic numbers have not recovered fully following the pandemic. International numbers are going through the roof. Many more pax are flying direct to/from EDI. The American and ME markets being good examples. The reliance on having to travel via LHR is nothing like what it used to be. The airport is forecasting pax number of considerably north of 16m in 2025. The next big targets being additional Chinese routes and a service to India. New American routes also on the radar.

 

[Aviador]

Why do you think domestic figures haven't recovered? Do you think airlines have been reluctant to take on former Flybe routes?

 

[Jetsco]

Why do you think domestic figures haven't recovered? Do you think airlines have been reluctant to take on former Flybe routes?

A combination of factors probably. The direct flight options from EDI are so much better than before. Up to 17 x transatlantic flights to/from EDI per day to the US and Canada from EDI this summer. Pax travelling to the ME and on to Australia and NZ for example have 3 x daily options via DXB or DOH. Qatar, even in what is normally the slow months, such as January this year have LF’s around 95%. Crazy high. Price point too perhaps. BA prices are normally very high. The train is now a viable option too. Normally cheaper than flying if booking in advance and the time difference isn’t a huge factor. No direct flight to/from Manchester. Limited options to/from Cardiff.

 

[Jerry]

Limited options to/from Cardiff

In 2019 111,415 passengers travelled between Cardiff and Edinburgh. In 2024 it was 16,189.

 

[Jetsco]

In 2019 111,415 passengers travelled between Cardiff and Edinburgh. In 2024 it was 16,189.

Exactly. Big drop. In the grander scheme of things, a 16m pax airport like EDI can mitigate the drop. For Cardiff this is a massive loss of business.

 

[Jerry]

Exactly. Big drop. In the grander scheme of things, a 16m pax airport like EDI can mitigate the drop. For Cardiff this is a massive loss of business.

Yep Edinburgh has likely replaced those passengers with others flying elsewhere ie the USA.