Edinburgh Airport

I flew to Edinburgh Airport from Exeter by Flybe on 28th April 2014. I have some limitations to my walking and was quite amazed to be directed of the plane to 2 flights of stairs to the arrivals area there then followed a very long walk to departure point with no walkways (only when you have to fly out of the airport are two sections provided). I have travelled by air to many destinations worldwide and usually find assistance if needed. Edinburgh is therefore a shock in that no assistance was offered and having stairs to climb with no alternatives make it a rather second rate airport. I'm quite surprised that no one working there from top management downwards has not recognised that they are around several decades out of date compared with other airports.

Flew into Edinburgh airport on 14th April 2014 from Bristol on easyJet and returned on 17th April. On both visits we were taken aback by the excellent customer service provided by the easyJet staff and staff from all parts of the airport even the chaps that searched our baggage. I would highly recommend anyone to use Edinburgh Airport. A bit busy but a few personal touches did not go amiss.

I think its a nice decent mid sized airport. Good location and has a very good number of flights to a variety of destinations.

This small airport is convenient to the city and is easy to navigate. Queue times were short though I can imagine the size of the security screening area to be a bit of a problem during peak times. Otherwise the facilities were good - especially airside and the bonus is that the airport has free wifi. A much nicer experience than most British airports.

Be careful of the fact that the three parking options for drivers picking up passengers from this airport are designed to fleece as much money as possible from you. Although road signage leads drivers to believe there is a Short Term parking area once trapped within a one way traffic system you'll discover there is only a £1.00 per minute drop off zone where you are not allowed to leave your vehicle unattended. Also despite the fact that the Long Term parking option (very far from terminals) says they offer 10 min of free parking they do not. The time on the ticket dispensed as you enter the parking is always one minute later than the actual time. Even if you return to the exit within nine minutes of entering this parking area the automatic ticket will bill you for more than ten minutes a minimum fee of £3.75. The exit ticket machine at the drop off zone does not accept 5 pence coins either. There is genuinely free parking at the ark and ride facility but this is in fact at Ingleston which is a 30 min walk from the terminals. Further more the police hide around a blind corner in the one way traffic system. This is convenient for catching drivers using their mobile phones due to the fact that they need to make contact with the people they are collecting after having to negotiate the day light robbery that is the parking system.

Large and decent passenger area after security. Security pushes passengers through quickly (bit too quick for my liking). Given no time to re-pack before being selected for silly body scan that needs you to twirl.

Arrived from Nice mid day on Monday 7th October. Into the passport control area to a massive build up of people arriving from different places. The passport "E" area was not well directed and no signs to say this is for "E" passport holders only i.e. the new type so when my wife tried to go through that it didn't work and she was told to go into the line with all the others again. I have an "E" passport so took my place in the line stepped forward when called by the one female on duty and placed my passport on the screen nothing happened then a glass door opened. I stepped into the next area and stood and waited and waited but the next glass door didn't open so when I walked back to ask the solitary female duty person she said you must put your passport face down on the screen I said I did that that's how I managed to get in here. Cut a long story short it was shambolic to say the least and they need to get passport control officers on hand to explain to people how the new system works.

Lately I have used Edinburgh Airport to pick up and drop off guests. Bearing in mind the size of the parking area 15 mins for££2.50 is entirely inadequate. BAA must make 10's if not 100's of millions of pounds each year from parking in Edinburgh alone. It is nothing less than highway robbery and should be examined. I also have a theory why it takes so long to reclaim baggage. The longer the delay the greater the profit for BAA in parking charges. They have no incentive to improve.

Arrived EDI on a Sunday morning at 07.00. Long lines for check-in and they moved slowly. Security lines moved quickly and efficiently. Decent number of shops and restaurants and all looks spiffy post security. Serviceair lounge was basic and did not provide much comfort or food. Overall a good experience.

The queues at security on Sunday afternoons are horrific had this twice two months apart with many hundreds of people in a massive snaking line and it took over 40 minutes from starting the queue to getting through the scanners.