Edinburgh Airport Brings In The Bucks

After a record month in February, during which Edinburgh handled 770,265 passengers, more good news has come for the Scottish airport.

Consultancy firm Biggar Economics have examined the economic impact of Edinburgh Airport and come to a fantastic conclusion – that the airport contributes nearly one billion pounds every year to the Scottish economy.

Scotland’s busiest airport handles more than 11 million passengers each year, and is responsible for more than 23,000 jobs.

The report was commissioned to consider the direct and indirect benefits of the airport, including the value of airport operations, on-site shops, as well as food and drink outlets. The group also included the money from off-site hotels, car parks, and its contribution to the freight and tourism sectors.

Here is what they found:

• £955.4m of the total GVA for Scotland’s economy
• £507.1m kept in the Greater Edinburgh area
• 23,340 jobs, including 12,330 in Edinburgh
• Airport, on-site operations and retail contribute £400.3m and 8276 jobs

An increase in large scale private investments over the last few years is largely responsible for the growth in passengers. The chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, Gordon Dewar, takes this report as an indication that having a competitive airport within Scotland is good for everybody. He hopes that by 2020 they may be supporting twice as many jobs.