In the light of the UK Government’s decision last week to delay a decision on new London airports capacity, the chief executive of Edinburgh Airport has called for Scotland to rethink its relationship with London’s airports. He believes the nation’s airports have shown they can deliver their own point-to-point international air services and the model of feeding traffic down to London is now out of date.

“We no longer need to think of ourselves as feeder airports for London airports, whether Heathrow or Gatwick, and the Government’s move to delay a final decision on London airports must be seen as an opportunity to rethink our relationship with those airports in the south,” said Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive Officer, Edinburgh Airport.

“At Edinburgh, we will launch 26 new routes between this winter and next summer and our unprecedented growth is being driven by direct international traffic, in turn fuelled by Edinburgh and Scotland’s growing global reputation as a year round destination for international visitors,” he added.

Edinburgh Airport is actually under common ownership with London’s Gatwick Airport, which alongside Heathrow Airport has been identified as the most likely locations for any additional London infrastructure to boost capacity.

“We might be owned by the same company that owns Gatwick, but we are run independently and I am happy to compete aggressively with Gatwick and other airports for Scotland’s share of air traffic to and from this country,” said Dewar.

However, he warned that such competition can only exist “if we move on from the age-old obsession with Heathrow,” which has been supported many times in the past and which has been grounded every time.

“Regardless of the merits of its case, we have long believed that a new runway at Heathrow is undeliverable and would in any case be a poor choice for Scotland. We are where we have been many times before and it is time for new thinking,” said Dewar.

“Our plans for further expansion go hand-in-hand with aspirations for Scotland to have greater leverage on global scale; Edinburgh Airport’s growth directly leads to job creation and enhances connectivity and tourism spending here in Scotland,” he added.

The growth of Edinburgh as a destination is an example of how air travel is evolving. Scotland's capital is now served by some of world’s largest airlines with direct connectivity across Europe, the Middle East and North America. Its network next summer will encompass 174 routes serving 122 destinations.

“Scotland is punching above its weight in the world aviation industry; all of our airports - supported by the Scottish Government and others - are better connected than they have ever been,” said Dewar. “We should be confidently standing on our two feet and completely redefining our relationship with Gatwick and Heathrow, and I look forward to building support for that case over the next few months.”