Edinburgh

A Legacy of Private Aviation

EDI originated as Turnhouse Aerodrome in 1916 during WWI as the most northerly British air defense utilized by the Royal Flying Corps. From 1925 it housed the 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, comprised of DH 9As, Westland Wapitis, Hawker Harts, and Hawker Hind light bombers, utilizing a grass runway. The Royal Air Force was formed in 1918, and the base was renamed RAF Turnhouse. At that point, ownership of the base was transferred to the Air Ministry. During WWII, the base came under the command of the RAF Fighter Control, who paved a 3,900-foot runway to accommodate the Supermarine Spitfire. The 3, 65, and 141 Squadrons were stationed at the base during the Battle of Britain. At the culmination of the war, the airfield remained under military control. Yet, it opened for commercial traffic on May 19th, 1947. The first flight was a British European Airways flight originating in London and ending in Shetland (with Edinburgh and Aberdeen as stopping points). As the 603 Squadron was stationed at EDI, the runway was extended to 6,000 feet in 1952 to handle the Vampire FB5. A new passenger terminal was completed in 1956 and was expanded in 1961. As for military use, the 603 Squadron was disbanded in 1957, prompting the Air Ministry to transfer ownership of the airport to the Ministry of Aviation in 1960 (to improve commercial service). On April 1st, 1971, the British Airports Authority took over ownership of the airport, and they set out to make immediate improvements as the terminal was operating far beyond capacity. They set about constructing a new terminal and redesigning the runways. On May 27th, 1977, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the new terminal building. That same year, a new 8,386-foot runway was completed, able to handle modern airliners, including the Concorde. Whereas international service began in 1962, for many years, international flights were charter and private. This started to change in the 1970s, with direct service to Amsterdam in 1975, with various other European metropolitan cities added in the 1980s. Transatlantic flights were impossible, as the US-UK Bermuda II Agreement designated Preswick as the only selected gateway in Scotland. In 1997, the RAF Turnhouse closed, having been operational for the entire post-war period leading up to that point. In 2004, the two-passenger terminal aprons were extended, and a multi-story car park was constructed. The following year, a 187-foot air traffic control tower was completed. In 2006 an extension to the terminal (the South East Pier) opened, adding six gates (with four more added to the Pier in 2008). On April 23rd, the British Airports Authority announced that it had sold the airport to Global Infrastructure Partners for 807.2 million pounds. This followed a decision by the UK’s Competition Commission that they had to sell either Edinburgh Airport or Glasgow Airport. Another expansion of the terminal building was announced in 2013, taking the building to the Edinburgh Airport Tram stop, which began operations in 2014. The following year saw record levels of passenger traffic, with 11.1 million people served. Furthermore, a 6,000-square-meter building was constructed, housing a security hall and retail areas. Moreover, on March 29th, 2018, Runway 12/30 was officially withdrawn.