Edinburgh airport is Scotland 's second busiest airport and handles an estimated 7.5 million passengers each year. Flights to Edinburgh arrive from more than 80 destinations across Europe although intercontinental flights are currently limited to New York and Toronto.
Hence, if you're flying from further a field the chances are that you'll have to take a connecting flight in one of the four London airports (one hour's flying time to the south). Glasgow airport, approximately 100 km to the west, is the country's main aviation hub and handles a substantially greater volume of domestic and international flights.
Edinburgh airport is conveniently located just 12 km west of the city. On arrival you'll find all the usual facilities (ranging from currency exchange to car hire) plus a branch of The Edinburgh and Lothian Tourist Board (www.edinburgh.org), who will be happy to help make hotel reservations. For flight information and general airport inquiries call BAA on: Tel: +44 (0)844 481 8989 - www.edinburghairport.com.
Edinburgh airport is served by a variety of transport links, but the most convenient (and cheapest) way to get into the city centre is to hop on the bus. Once out of the Arrivals Terminal head for stand No.18 and wait for the No.100 bus. You shouldn't have to wait long as buses leave every 10 minutes during the day and every half-hour at night (the service operates round- the-clock). Tickets can be bought on board. Journey time: 25 minutes. If you want to round-off your flight to Edinburgh more comfortably you'll find a queue of taxis waiting outside the airport. There are no rail links.
UK-based airlines operating direct flights to Edinburgh include: British Airways, British Midland, flybe.com, easyjet.com, bmibaby.com, jet2.com, Blue 1, Iceland Express, Ryanair, Aer Lingus and scotairways.co.uk. As flights leave from most regional airports in the UK the chances are that you won't have to travel too far to catch your flight.
The flight paths between Edinburgh and the UK's major airports have been some of the most hotly contested territory in the war for budget airline supremacy. Of course this is music to the ears of frequent-flyers because it means that there's never been a better time to look for cheap seats.
Go Online : Web-based travel agents like expedia.co.uk and lastminute.com are the best place to start shopping around for cheap flights to Edinburgh. The Internet is a fiercely competitive marketplace and prices must be kept low in order to stay in business. Online travel agents are able to sell airline seats for less than their high-street rivals because they have substantially lower operating costs, but otherwise the same golden rule applies: shop around.
Think Budget : No-frills airlines have revolutionised air travel over the past few years and today represent one of the cheapest ways of getting to Edinburgh. Budget airlines fly from airports all over the UK, so the chances are that one of the following (who all fly to Edinburgh) is near to you: flybe.com, easyjet.com, bmibaby.com, jet2.com, Ryanair and scotairways.co.uk..
Be Flexible : By travelling 'off-peak' you can make real savings. Naturally it isn't always practical to fly in the middle of the night, but if you avoid weekends and travel between Tuesday-Thursday; you could be looking at a considerable discount.
Think 'Big' : It's impossible to ignore the impact that no-frill airlines have had on driving down the ticket prices of their 'big-name' competitors. In a bid to win back lost business the major international carriers are now offering surprisingly competitive fares. When comparing flight prices it's worth remembering that fares quoted by the 'big players' are usually all-inclusive (so you won't get any nasty surprises, such as additional tax).
Continue with this guide to:
> Hotels
> Bed & Breakfast
> Accommodation Review