Edinburgh Airport is now the fifth largest airport in the UK in terms of passenger numbers according to figures released from the CAA.
Consistent growth since the airport’s best ever month in July has seen Edinburgh Airport overtake Birmingham and Luton to break into the UK’s top five for the first time.
The figures are to the end of October when the airport introduced its controversial "kiss and fly" fee for drivers dropping off passengers.
The growth comes during what Kevin Brown, Managing Director of Edinburgh Airport, calls "an incredibly tough period for aviation".
Edinburgh was more severely affected than Luton and Birmingham by ash fallout from the Icelandic volcano and the BA strikes in April and May of this year.
There is also continuing pressure on governments to stem growth in aviation - particularly of the short haul flights that Edinburgh caters to - to tackle climate change. Flying has the heaviest carbon footprint of all modes of travel.
However, none of these factors seems have caused great headwinds. Edinburgh's passenger numbers were steady from June onwards picking up from August.
“This is fantastic news for Edinburgh," said Brown. "It underlines Edinburgh’s importance to Scotland and the UK as a whole and can only assist us as we compete across Europe to bring more flights to Scotland."
Edinburgh is expected to consolidate its position in the top five airports with modest growth being predicted month on month well into 2011.
The Edinburgh trams line, providing a link between the airport and Edinburgh city centre was originally scheduled to open in 2011. However, a contractual dispute continues to delay work to complete the project.
The top 5 UK airports *
- Heathrow
- Gatwick
- Stansted
- Manchester
- Edinburgh
* Based on passenger numbers in the year ending October 2010