GIP, the new owners of Edinburgh Airport, already have an impressive track record from their recent purchase of London Gatwick Airport.
My industry experience made me rather sceptical that they would create very much change in the London market but the results have been to the contrary.
From the passenger perspective, of particular note has been the focus on the security experience where significant investment in new technology has been made to reduce the hassle factor of the inevitable checks. I would expect this to be an area which will be given early attention by GIP at Edinburgh.
Airports are ever focused on the need to generate increasing revenues from sources other than airline fees (given pressure from airlines to reduce these) and GIP has refreshed the retail offer at Gatwick and is likely to do the same at Edinburgh
With respect to air routes, GIP has had a number of successes in adding new routes at Gatwick, both long haul and short haul, and this is likely to be a key area of focus and energy. Now Edinburgh is a truly independent airport, the gloves are off when it comes to route development. I would expect the new owners to have big ambitions particularly when it comes to new long haul services. In addition to the existing direct services across the Atlantic, there will be a renewed drive to secure airlines operating services to the Middle East and Asia.
This will be aided by the arrival in airline fleets of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a new generation fuel efficient long range aircraft, just being shown off in the UK this week. It could open up more direct flights from Edinburgh to markets which were previously not viable.
Looking at the short haul network, Edinburgh is well served, but as we have seen from news of Ryanair's recent route cuts there is no room for complacency. The challenge of negotiations with airline customers about airport charges is something in which new owner GIP is already well versed.
l John Strickland is aviation consultant at JLS Consulting
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