The UK’s Edinburgh Airport is planning to expand its immigration and baggage reclaim facilities with an investment of £50m.
The expansion is expected to triple the capacity for bigger long-haul aircraft with the creation of a second immigration hall and baggage reclaim area, which will be built according to the new aircraft stands and air bridges.
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The £50m investment is a part of the £150m programme announced by the Board of Edinburgh Airport in 2013, which is aimed at development.
The programme is divided into several projects, with the first phase of the airside programme due for delivery in mid-2015.
The latest £50m expansion will be the second major project under the programme.
The first stage of the development is expected to create a 2,000m² rapid-build structure, which will include an immigration hall, around which a bigger structure will be built over the next five years.
A total of £25m has been spent on stage one, for which work started this week ahead of the arrival of Etihad Airways on 8 June when it launches the first link between Scotland and Abu Dhabi. More than 50 jobs will be created in the process.
Edinburgh Airport CEO Gordon Dewar said: "We’re committed to providing our passengers with choice and giving them the best experience.
"The work we’ll be carrying out over the next four years will transform our airside facilities, tripling our capacity to handle bigger aircraft and paving the way for the next ten years of increased international connectivity."
No details are available for the remaining £75m of funding from the five-year programme.
Image: Edinburgh Airport Terminal. Photo: courtesy of Kim Traynor on Wikipedia.
