https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/249 ... nts-anchor
Before anyone complains, he makes extensive comments abou GLA being EDI's main competitor, so any suggestion this article is off topic are invalid.
He also takes in depth about strategic planning and route development which should be interesting in general.
The article also raises inmportant questions for GLA's new owners.
The chief executive of Edinburgh Airport has declared he sees no limit to growth in the foreseeable future, flagging potential to boost flights to and from North America and China.
Signalling another big increase in the airport’s passenger numbers by declaring they will be “significantly north” of 16 million this year, Gordon Dewar also highlighted the size of the market in India. He noted India currently has no direct air links with Scotland.
In an exclusive interview with The Herald, Mr Dewar made no bones about Glasgow Airport being Edinburgh’s nearest competitor, and the degree of the rivalry. He also highlighted airports across Western Europe as competitors in the drive to win routes.
Mr Dewar declined to comment on last week’s announcement that Andy Cliffe was departing as chief executive of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports owner AGS Airports. News of Mr Cliffe's exit came as AviAlliance, the wholly owned airports platform of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) of Canada, announced the completion of its acquisition of AGS Airports from Ferrovial of Spain and Macquarie of Australia.
Edinburgh Airport last year welcomed 15,792,395 passengers, up from 14,396,794 in 2023.
Mr Dewar highlighted the strength of demand as well as the airport’s growth in passenger numbers and connectivity.
He said: “We don’t see any short-term limit to that. We think we can continue to grow for the foreseeable future. We continue to work with airlines to show them that Edinburgh - and Scotland - is a place they want to continue to invest.”
Noting the strategy was “fairly simple”, Mr Dewar added: “We go round the world persuading airlines this is the place to put their next fleet allocation and routes.”
He highlighted the strength of inbound traffic to Edinburgh as a key attraction to airlines.
Mr Dewar noted that inbound traffic accounted for about half of the overall passenger numbers for the airport, with this proportion even greater on North American routes.
Commenting on Edinburgh Airport’s achievement of reaching 15 million passengers in a single year in 2024 in what was a first for a Scottish airport, Mr Dewar said: “We are obviously delighted with that. That is obviously well north of where we were pre-Covid so that is us back into our growth trajectory.”
Asked where passenger numbers might go this year, Mr Dewar replied: “We are going to be significantly north of 16 [million passengers] this year.”
He declined to give a more precise indication of what growth was being projected for 2025, declaring: “We are not sharing our forecasts.”
However, highlighting the growth achieved by the airport, Mr Dewar added: “It is the new routes, it is the new connectivity, it is the new airlines that are coming as part of that.”
He flagged the return of Emirates’ daily service to and from Dubai, which started in November on a Boeing 777 and has since early January been operated on an Airbus A350.
Mr Dewar also flagged JetBlue’s new route to Boston in the US.
And, highlighting hopes of growth in services to and from China, he said: “We are hoping to see Hainan extend the frequency into Beijing in the summer and looking at can we look at making that a longer season for them.”
Mr Dewar also highlighted success in winning leisure routes operated by Ryanair and easyJet.
Asked where he saw growth mainly coming from, Mr Dewar replied: “It is all over.”
He observed: “We have not got back to full strength on European cities after Covid because there is still a bit of softness in the business market. We are not back up to pre-Covid in the domestic market.”
Mr Dewar noted that domestic flights now accounted for only about 25% of the airport's total passenger numbers.
Flagging strength in the long-haul sector, he declared: “There are clearly loads of parts of the world we don’t have connectivity, which we are looking at.”
He also highlighted opportunities to add further connectivity in the Mediterranean.
Mr Dewar noted that Edinburgh Airport had traditionally had less exposure to the Eastern Mediterranean but flagged a “big expansion” in recent years in flights to Greece and Turkey from the Scottish capital.
He added: “I obviously see more opportunity in North America [and] China - with Hainan to Beijing being the first of what I hope will be a number of [China] routes in the future.”
United and Delta operate routes between Edinburgh and the US, with American Airlines’ seasonal summer service from the Scottish capital to Philadelphia returning this summer.
Mr Dewar also mulled the question of whether an airline might invest in a direct connection to India, noting there was no such route between Scotland and that “major market” at the moment.
He noted that Edinburgh Airport worked on 40 to 50 potential new opportunities a year and was “confident of getting five to 10”, while observing that it did not know at the outset which ones would come to fruition.
Mr Dewar added: “They (the airlines) are planning probably two years ahead. We are planning probably 10 years ahead.”
He declared that Edinburgh Airport was “in competition with just about every airport in Western Europe”.
Mr Dewar said: “Obviously Glasgow is the closest of our competition. We will be out there telling people that if Scotland is on your radar Edinburgh is the place to be.”
He added: “We have got to show why we are better than Vienna, or we are better than Barcelona or are better than Dublin. Glasgow is part of that. It is largely about the fundamentals of the market and why they (the airlines) will be successful here.”
Mr Dewar flagged from an outbound traffic perspective the airport’s location between Scotland’s two biggest cities and at the confluence of motorways, as well as private wealth in Edinburgh and the city’s successful financial sector and relatively strong economic growth.
On inbound traffic, he noted the airport had “a lot of students coming in” and highlighted the strength of Edinburgh’s tourism proposition.
And he noted the potential for Edinburgh to be a “touchpoint” for travellers who might return for a longer trip to Scotland.
He said of the balance between outbound and inbound traffic: “It is about 50-50 across the airport as a whole – even stronger from North America.”
Highlighting the focus on selling the airport’s advantages to airlines, Mr Dewar said: “Starting a new long-haul route is a major, multi-million-pound investment. It probably takes a year or two to get into the black and needs to be successful for the long term.”
Asked about what had changed with French-based VINCI Airports acquiring 50.01% of Edinburgh Airport last year from Global Infrastructure Partners, with GIP retaining a 49.99% stake, Mr Dewar replied that there was "not a massive" effect.
He added: “What VINCI have done is bought our long-term plan for the growth and the success of the airport, They have invested a lot of money into that growth and that story.”
Mr Dewar noted the “opportunity of tapping into some skill sets they have”, highlighting VINCI’s global portfolio of 73 airports.
He flagged as an example the fact that Edinburgh Airport was about to undertake a runway resurfacing, something that it does around once every 15 years.
Mr Dewar noted that, across VINCI’s portfolio, this was something that happened four or five times a year.
He said: “We have access to people who are doing this as their day job.”
Mr Dewar added: “Equally, I am hoping VINCI find things we do that they would like to do elsewhere in their network.
“Inevitably, it takes a bit of time to get to know each other. That was the case in 2012 [with] GIP.”
On plans to build out the physical infrastructure of the airport, Mr Dewar said: “We are just reviewing our masterplan. The things we need really early are more aircraft stands, more gates, and a bit more retail - food and beverage in particular to satisfy people’s two or three hours before their flight.
“Immediately following that, it will be rolling into new immigration, new baggage facilities. It just keeps going. We are a long-term business. We are genuinely writing a 50-year plan as we speak.”
He noted the first five years of this plan would be “pretty detailed”, with the following 45 years “the broad-brush masterplan stuff”.
Mr Dewar added: “It is a really exciting time.”
Montreal to 
Edinburgh
Meanwhile, GLA was firing out messages on social media,"awwright troops? Fancy gaun somewhere the 'morra 'an that?"