A Scottish airport has hailed a 700% rise in profit that is "testament to the hard work and creativity of the team".
The airport reveals it is tracking record figures and it is expected to "outstrip pre-Covid numbers" next year in my Business Week column.
Edinburgh Airport, which has faced difficulties in some areas that include staffing and baggage issues, praised its teamwork but recognised that operational resilience measures "need to be made".
The 11.3 million passengers that passed through its terminal in 2022 was a 272% rise on the three million in 2021, which it said showed "the recovery from the pandemic is well under way", and was 76% of 2019 figures.
Revenue to December 2022 was up 202.5% at £193.3 million on the £63.9m the year before and 87% of pre-pandemic results.
Its operating profit was £81.5m, a 726.9% increase on the previous year’s £13m loss coming out of Covid. In comparison in terms of passenger numbers, Glasgow Airport earlier reported a 214% surge in traffic to 6.5 million last year.
In terms of input, Edinburgh invested £17.7m in capital projects last year, set against £9.7m the year before.
READ MORE: Scottish airport reports yet another profit
READ MORE: Scottish owner cuts losses
Edinburgh Airport said: "The entire aviation industry experienced difficulties associated with the rapid return of demand to the market. Challenges with labour recruitment and training for secure aviation environments hindered the sector’s ability to keep pace with demand.
"Early recruitment meant Edinburgh Airport was much better prepared for the increased demand than most, however, the airport was still affected by the operational difficulties caused by many factors including schedule disruptions, campus partner operations and changes in passenger behaviours, including significantly earlier arrivals for flights."
It added: "The macroeconomics and geopolitical outlook remain uncertain."
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport told The Herald: "These results are testament to the hard work and creativity of the team at Edinburgh Airport who have excelled as the aviation industry has faced the challenges of recovering from the pandemic.
"We’re looking forward to a busy 2024 where we will outstrip pre-covid passenger numbers and serve more passengers than ever."
It comes as Reuters reported Edinburgh Airport’s owner, Global Infrastructure Partners, "is working on the sale of its majority stake in a process that may value the airport at over €2.5 billion ($2.72b, according to two sources close to the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is private". GIP declined to comment.
So the recalibration of the aviation industry continues, and according to Scotland's biggest airport, is maintaining growth momentum.
In the latest issue of our Business HQ Monthly supplement out this week, business correspondent Kristy Dorsey takes a deep dive into Scotland's space industry that includes a tour of a rocket production facility.
"The key question is whether the companies based here will be able to capitalise on this and grow big enough to compete with larger rivals on the global stage,” she writes.
Deputy business editor Scott Wright delivered the exclusive supplement lead this month, centring around a major distillery’s flag of concern over net zero targets. He writes: "Scotland’s biggest whisky distiller has warned its net zero ambitions are under threat from long delays in securing new electricity grid connections to its major sites, as well as flaws in the current mechanism that determines the cost of electricity from renewable sources."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel