Edinburgh Flights

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Edinburgh Airport is located to the West of the city and is accessible via road only by taxi (£13-20) or Airbus (£3 single or £5 return). A proposed Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (EARL) is in the consultation process with the cost of a return just being announced as £7.50.

Once inside the terminal there are slightly more shops and food outlets before passport control. The queues at Passport Control are always annoyingly long so allow plenty time to get to your gate. Once through to the departure lounges the facilities are more than adequate. The newly introduced smoking ban means you cannot smoke anywhere within a terminal building or bus stops so be warned.

The airport is operated by BAA and is constantly evolving with the latest addition being a huge new control tower designed by Reid Architecture (these have also been commisioned to build a similar structure at Newcastle Airport). Additional departure gates are now open to the East of the main terminal (see new pics) and a new car park and passenger drop-off zone has just came into use.

The website has a live flight information page that is especially useful if you are collecting folk from the airport.

just took my son to Edinburgh airport this afternoon (3 july)

no delays or problems, but cars cannot go to the front of the building to drop off or pick up (only buses & taxis); cars have to park in car parks, then occupants have to get out & walk 100 meters

people are being told to allow 1 hour extra for travel to the airport which is nonsense based on my experience; just means a lot of extra people in the terminal, so its crowded

If you're flying to Edinburgh, the airport is relatively close to the centre of town (see seperate tip for bus info).. It is a good sized regional operation with a decent selection of shops, although when I visited (August 2006) it was a little light on refreshment options due to a refurbishment of the food hall. Again, at this time, security was very tight due to the alleged terrorist threat, but it's the same at every British airport.

The attached website gives good information including live flight arrivals and departures and online car park booking.

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Edinburgh's airport is easily accessable from many cities in Europe, and directly from the USA (Newark & Atlanta) on Continental & Delta airlines. Delta airlines just began direct service from ATL on 6 Jun 06.

Ryanair also flies there, with limited destinations. We came from Dublin.

There are a number of ways to reach Edinburgh –either by road or train and Plane.

I chose to combine the train with the plane. I flew direct from Manchester on BMI Regional Airways for just 22 pounds one way and came back by virgin trains at a cost of 15 pounds one way, this was the cheapest option at the time, however I wish I’d had paid the extra and flew home as well.
The flight on Good Friday afternoon took off early from Manchester and took just 40 minutes in the air and a total of 50 minutes from gate to gate. They fed us short bread and a drink from the bar as well as a newspaper. The train by contrast took 3 hours and such luxuries like newspapers, free drinks or sandwich where all chargeable. I spend nearly 6 pounds on a sandwich, coffee and bottled water and I had to change trains in Carlisle which was less than convient as the train I was on only just made it with minutes spare in Carlisle.
Getting from the Airport takes just 25 minutes on the express bus and runs every 15 minutes at a cost of 3 pounds each way. There even an information video on things to do aboard the bus. (Great Value)
Getting a round Edinburgh is fairly easy as it’s very to get around on foot, however the buses are very frequent and cheap. Taxi’s are quite expensive, but are plentiful.

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I flew to Edinburgh from Dublin on Ryanair. The trip is so short that betwen takeoff and landing I don't think you are in the air for more than 30-45 minutes. Using Ryanair is perfect for trips like this as with both Edinburgh and Dublin you fly into the main airports of the city and are then just a short bus ride away from the city centre. They also offer some of the cheapest flights around.

Since Ryanair is a 'no frills' airline it will cost you if you wish to buy a drink or snack onboard, but you can also bring on your own food if you wish to.

I have flown with Ryanir numerous times and have never been on a flight that was delayed, and I have found the staff to always be very friendly and helpful.

there is a bus service in Edinburgh, with plenty of them going all around the city to late at night, after that there is an all night bus which is roughly hourly, and you pay a flat fare no matter how far you are travelling. There is also a train service whihc goes to the outlying areas of the city, two train stations in the city centre. There are also open top tour buses whihc you can get in the city centre which takes you round the city with a guide. The local buses do not give change so correct money is required, driver will tell you how much, also you can buy a day saver ticket

You can get to edinburgh from London's (or from other places of course but we came from London) airports in 1-1.5 hours.

The distance from the airport to the center is 10-15 Km i think.

There are a lot of big taxis with friendly drivers (well , most of them) that will help you to carry the bags and take you to your destination.