French giant Vinci buys Edinburgh airport

EDINBURGH airport will come under French ownership after infrastructure group Vinci agreed to purchase a controlling stake for £1.27bn.

Vinci will take a 50.01pc shareholding in Scotland’s busiest airport, giving the Paris-based company a third UK hub alongside London Gatwick and Belfast International.

The transaction is expected to close in the summer following receipt of regulatory approvals. Global Infrastructure Partners, which bought Edinburgh in 2012 after the Government ordered a break-up of the former British Airports Authority (BAA), will retain a minority holding.

Edinburgh airport attracted 14.4m passengers last year, making it the sixth-busiest UK hub, and generated revenue of £272m. Vinci said it plans to leave existing management in place while seeking to attract new airlines and boost sales at retail outlets.

Sir John Elvidge, the airport’s chairman and once Scotland’s senior civil servant under Alex Salmond, said the investment by Vinci represents “a significant vote of confidence in Scotland and the future of its capital city airport”.

Edinburgh overtook Glasgow airport, previously Scotland’s busiest, in 2007, and was attracting two thirds more passengers than its rival before numbers plunged during Covid.

The former Turnhouse Aerodrome served as a base for military aircraft during both world wars before being opened to civil flights, with the site handed over to BAA in 1971. It currently hosts 32 airlines serving 155 destinations and is targeting 15m passengers this year, which would take it above the pre-pandemic peak.

Ryanair and easyjet are the airport’s biggest operators. Since 1995 Vinci has built up interests in 70 airports attracting 240m passengers a year as part of a plan to diversify from construction.