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Airline jettisons service to New York from Scotland

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Published Date: 12 June 2009
By ALASTAIR DALTON
EDINBURGH is to lose one of two air links to New York after Delta Air Lines yesterday announced suspension of the route from this autumn.
Daily flights to JFK airport are expected to be halted in September as part of major cutbacks by the United States airline.

The service was launched only in May last year after Delta scrapped its Edinburgh-Atlanta flights the previous autumn.

D
elta said that it was suffering from the recession, rising oil prices and from the spread of swine flu.

The airline said passenger income had fallen by 20 per cent between January and April compared with a year ago, and it expected the trend to continue. The news came just hours after Continental Airlines celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Edinburgh-Newark flights, close to New York.

The airline said the service, which operates up to two flights a day, had carried more than 650,000 passengers and contributed £184 million to the Scottish economy.

A spokesman for BAA, which owns Edinburgh airport, said: "We hope this suspension is short lived and that Delta will re-instate the link once economic conditions improve.

"Clearly, this decision is part of a global strategy by Delta to reduce costs in the face of the current recession, and Edinburgh is only one of a number of international routes affected."





The full article contains 230 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 11 June 2009 9:35 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Scotland's airports
 
1

truthsleuth,

12/06/2009 00:37:23
Contributed £184million to the scottish economy

Always amazes me how they can so easily pluck up such wonderful numbers.

How much did they take out of the Scottish economy?
2

John JP,

12/06/2009 07:35:58
Obviously not busy or profitable enough despite being propped up by subsidies.
3

eric,

lothian 12/06/2009 07:40:36
Trying to be something we are not!
4

WeAreDeRosa,

12/06/2009 10:09:25
Hardly surprising given the loads it carried last winter. One flight ex Turnhouse carried only 16 passengers!

Sadly this will be one of many high profile casualties from EDI as the massive problems the crash of Edinburgh's financial sector begins to bite at every level. The airport in is increasingly being dominated by Ryanair which could be the worst decision BAA ever made as Ryanair scare off new and existing competition and start to try and dictate how the airport is run and costed.
5

WeAreDeRosa,

12/06/2009 10:10:18
#4 Time for some people to get real!
6

John JP,

Wishaw 12/06/2009 10:54:08
#4 May I correct you on several points Joe. Firstly BAA already has a direct Middle East service i.e. a daily flight to Dubai from Glasgow which is a massive success. If you wish to be completely insular and travel only from Edi then you already have access to several hub airports from Edi i.e. Schiphol and Heathrow.The point I wish to make here is that neither Gla or Edi will ever be huge international gateways like Schiphol or Heathrow. Secondly the Philadelphia flight operated by US Air would not have been recommenced if it was not viable.

The sooner either Edi or Gla is sold off the better then the stranglehold of BAA will be released. Then we will see fair competition.

Lastly Joe, please remember their is more to Scotland than Edinburgh.
7

WeAreDeRosa,

12/06/2009 11:42:11
#7 You have answered your own question. BAA build on demand proven by your Ryanair infrastructure point. The lack of infrastructure didn't stop Ryanair setting up a base at EDI and it wouldn't stop any other airline either. You need to get into the real world and not your spotter fantasy one. The single central Scotland airport is NEVER going to happen - if it was EDI and GLA would be bulldozed.
8

,

12/06/2009 11:52:52
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
9

,

12/06/2009 11:53:59
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
10

WeAreDeRosa,

12/06/2009 12:10:08
#10 "You have to get it into your head that scotland is never going to have anything more than regional airports."

Indeed. Some people cannot seem to look at the situation from your totally realistic viewpoint instead of the plane-spotting and anti-west coast ones they so embarrassingly display in these forums.
11

WeAreDeRosa,

12/06/2009 15:13:50
#13 EDI isn't Emirate's airport of choice. That has nothing to do with facilities or infrastructure - your comments re Ryanair at EDI prove that beyond doubt. If an airline wants to fly from EDI - BAA will accomodate them. Please for once remove your spotter hat and start being realistic and non-parochial and perhaps then in future you will not look so parochial and foolish.
12

John JP,

Wishaw 12/06/2009 18:29:59
#14 WeAreDeRosa Well said m8.
13

truthsleuth,

13/06/2009 00:57:47
If Scotland wants its own international routes then a good fast (High Speed) rail service serving both airports and City centres is the answer.

Of course this would make the deveopment of high speed rail services to other paets of the uK.

The question then arises would it not be better to build the high speed rail links and focus all Scottish international routes on one of the airports.
14

John JP,

13/06/2009 08:51:42
#16. Thats sounds a fantastic idea truthsleuth. Glasgow airport is already getting a rail link in preparation for the Commonwealth games so would be a natural choice.
15

Bill_on_a_boat,

floating 13/06/2009 20:09:45
Non entity of a story - Scotland does not need two major airports - it's simply not big enough - what it does need (agruably) is the existing airports in Edinburgh and Glasgow relegated as Prestwick was, then build ONE new one somewhere in the Bellshill area, with direct train links to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling etc, all reached in 20 minutes or so. Get out of London Central control under Transport Scotland so it can truly be a service for the Scots, not just what London "thinks we need". Now THAT might just be a good use of transport pounds. Help the tourism industry as well. Much better placed for Transatlantic layovers than England too - Jets can carry less fuel and higher payloads than using London !
16

Age of Reason,

Aberdeen 14/06/2009 07:48:52
No 8 Bang on. Hear him. Hear him.
No 10 ... rubbish. We have a Central Scotland Airport and it's coded EDI. GLA has had limited success because the only users are those whose inconvenience in getting through Glasgow is less than the connection time/disruption at LHR, AMS FRA etc..
Parochial westcoast selfinterest killed CSA in the 60s (not Willie Ross' finest hour), and Wee Eck sidelined EARL as soon as he needed savings to pay for his silly bridge-toll-avoidance.
GET BAA out of EDI and get EDI connected to Scotland And That Includes GALA!
17

WeAreDeRosa,

14/06/2009 13:34:45
#19 Total nonsense. A CSA was being considered as part of "The Future of Air Transport in the United Kingdom" and a report into the viabilty of such a scheme was issued by the David Hume institute on behalf of the Goverment in 2003. A CSA was deemed as a non-starter but even if it was it would never be viable before 2030 (that year would be greatly increased now). The study is available online http://tinyurl.com/29cojk.

As someone who is so critical of "parochial self interest" you are somewhat hypocritical by demonstrating the same yourself.

#10 was spot on.

 

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