Expansion at Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh Airport is continuing to invest heavily in redevelopment after commencing work on a new £2 million project to increase the size of its immigration hall.

The project, which is anticipated to take three months to complete, will see the immigration hall's capacity grow by 25%. Managed by the Government's UK Border Agency, the new facility will feature additional desks and scope for new technology to be incorporated in the future.

Gordon Dewar, managing director at Edinburgh Airport, said: "Few would have predicted such massive growth in international flights at Edinburgh Airport, with new services being announced virtually every month. Up to 10,000 international passengers now arrive at Edinburgh Airport every day, triple the number of ten years ago.

"This growth, combined with the additional checks that are required following the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks, has placed considerable pressure on the immigration hall. This is why we have already taken a number of steps to increase the hall's capacity, including a 50% increase in the number of available desks earlier this year. However, given the growth in passengers numbers at the airport, it is right that we press ahead with increasing the overall size of the immigration hall to ensure our international passengers can pass through the airport as quickly and securely as possible.

"It is inevitable that a major three month project of this kind will cause some disruption to the normal operation of the immigration hall and I would want to apologise in advance to any passengers who are affected. We are working closely with the UK Border Agency, airlines and others to try and minimise that disruption and ensure the immigration hall operates as smoothly as possible over the coming months."

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October 8, 2009