Scotland: Edinburgh airport passenger numbers drop to 1995 levels

Scotland’s busiest airport has gone back a quarter century in terms of passenger numbers as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. During 2020, Edinburgh airport handled only 3,478,501 passengers, less than a quarter of the previous year. With the nation’s main international gateway currently at 1% of normal travellers, the airport’s boss has warned that “choice of airlines and destinations” may be much smaller once recovery begins. Gordon Dewar, CE of Edinburgh airport said: “The fall in our passenger numbers is only one reflection of the long-term damage being inflicted by Covid-19 on Scotland’s economy and its social fabric, but it is a worrying one and there is no clear path to recovery. Nobody should assume that when the pandemic subsides, life will go back to normal. At the airport, we will be starting from a low level of activity not recorded here since 1995 and the choice of airlines and destinations may be dramatically different to those we had worked hard to build before 2020 and on which many people depend for bringing visitors to Scotland and for holidays and business.”<br/>