The figures are 4.3% ahead of the same month last year and is the busiest April on record.
A total of 1,258,516 passengers passed through Edinburgh Airport in April 2019, but the figures received a cautious welcome as a slowdown in growth is expected.
The figures are 4.3% ahead of the same month last year and is the busiest April on record.
|
Apr 2019 |
% vs Apr 2018 |
||||
|
Domestic |
468,526 |
+4.3% |
|||
|
International |
789,990 |
+4.3% |
|||
|
Total |
1,258,516 |
+4.3% |
|||
|
MAT Total |
14,680,966 |
+8.1% |
However, Chief Executive Gordon Dewar said the Scottish Government’s decision to abandon Air Departure Tax will make record figures harder to come by: “We’re always happy to see more passengers coming to and travelling out of Edinburgh as it demonstrates the desire people have to broaden their horizons by visiting countries all over the world.
“Tourism is a sector that is key to Scotland, from hoteliers and restaurants to tour companies and visitor attractions, it’s an industry which employs thousands of people and drives economic growth. But we are in danger of seeing that growth and prosperity fall.
“Winning routes is hard but keeping them is even harder. And when you continue to implement the highest aviation tax in the world, you make it even more difficult. Unfortunately, when we should be looking to build on the tourism sector, we are making Scotland less attractive by forcing this tax on people and discouraging airlines from operating in Scotland.”
Background
Domestic market was ahead +4.3% vs April 2018 due to the following reasons:
- More flights to London Heathrow from British Airways and Flybe compared to last April
- Ryanair launched a new route to Derry (Oct 18)
International market also recorded a +4.3% YoY growth due new route growth as well as increased frequencies on existing routes. These are the reasons for the strong growth in more detail:
- Ryanair
– started 2 new routes this April: Billund & Luxembourg
– Added more flights to Warsaw & Nantes compared to last April - Jet2 added more flights to Antalya, Alicante, Palma, Tenerife & Faro compared to last April
- Aegean started season earlier (April) than last year (June)
- easyJet started flights to Bodrum earlier than last year (start of April, rather than end of April)
- Qatar served a second daily flight on Mondays in April – as well as used a larger aircraft (Airbus A350) since July 2018 (route was previously served on the B787-8 Dreamliner)
- Delta increased from 5x weekly to daily service to JFK in April
Popular destinations in March were:
- Poland & the Baltics: Kaunas, Gdansk, Krakow, Warsaw, Riga, Tallinn, Katowice & Poznan
- City destinations: Madrid, Sofia, Budapest, Porto, Valencia, Rome, Lisbon, Reykjavik
- New York City.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
